Goal: Describe character.
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Now hear it and say it
This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepPortrait of Bold the driver
On the long drive back from Arkhangai a tyre burst in the middle of the steppe. Bold changed it in ten minutes, humming a song, while Nomin and I sat in the grass.
Oyuunaa has asked us to write a portrait of a person we admire, and I knew at once whose it would be. But how do you describe a man of so few words? Nomin helped me find the right ones, and we laughed a lot, because Bold was standing close enough to hear.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| зан чанар | character, personality |
| эелдэг | courteous, polite, gentle |
| зөрүүд | stubborn |
| ухаантай | clever, intelligent |
| дуу цөөтэй | quiet, of few words |
| тэвчээртэй | patient |
| найдвартай | reliable |
| ажилсаг | hard-working |
| хөгжилтэй | cheerful, fun to be with |
| туршлагатай | experienced |
| шулуун шударга | honest and straightforward |
| бүдүүлэг | rude, coarse |
| тодорхойлох | to describe, to define |
| дөт | shorter, more direct (дөт зам: a shortcut) |
| Positive | Its opposite |
|---|---|
| эелдэг (courteous) | бүдүүлэг (rude) |
| тэвчээртэй (patient) | тэвчээргүй (impatient) |
| ажилсаг (hard-working) | залхуу (lazy) |
| хөгжилтэй (cheerful) | уйтгартай (dull, boring) |
| туршлагатай (experienced) | туршлагагүй (inexperienced) |
| дуу цөөтэй (of few words) | их ярьдаг (talkative) |
зөрүүд (stubborn) and ухаантай (clever) complete the set, with сайхан зантай, "good-natured", the warmest praise of all.
Many character words are nouns with the comitative –тай ("having") or –гүй ("without"): тэвчээр (patience) gives тэвчээртэй and тэвчээргүй, ухаан (mind) gives ухаантай, туршлага (experience) gives туршлагатай and туршлагагүй, зан (temper) gives сайхан зантай. Learn the noun and you have two adjectives for free.
A portrait convinces when every adjective comes with evidence: a habit in –даг (lesson 44) or a short story in –сан.
| Word | Effect | Example |
|---|---|---|
| маш, их | very | маш ухаантай |
| жаахан | a bit (softens a criticism) | жаахан зөрүүд |
| хэт | too, far too | хэт зөрүүд |
Praise with маш, criticise with жаахан: that is Mongolian tact, and Nomin uses it all the way through.
To show both sides, join them with ч гэсэн ("even though") or гэхдээ ("but").
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian adjectives · The comitative case
In the countryside many roads are only tracks across the steppe, and a good driver reads them like a map: which track is shorter, which river can be crossed after rain, where the next well is. That is why Mongolians trust drivers like Bold so completely, and why passengers rarely argue with the driver about the way.
Nomin calls him Болд ах: adding ах (elder brother) or эгч (elder sister) to a name is the warm, respectful way to address someone a little older than you.
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Lesson done? Train your ear
This written course teaches you to read and write. The LIMBA audio course makes you speak: 24 lessons of 12 to 15 minutes, recorded with a native speaker. You listen, you repeat, you answer — the perfect partner for these pages.
Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keep