Goal: Read messages and social media.
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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 keepChatting with Nomin online
Every night this week Nomin and I have been chatting on our phones, even though we live in the same flat. Her messages are a different Mongolian from Oyuunaa's textbook: half the words are shortened, the vowels are stretched when she is excited, and every third line ends in хаха.
At first I answered in perfect, complete sentences. Nomin said I wrote like a government ministry. Tonight I tried to write like her.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| бн | short for байна (in chat) |
| ок | OK (in chat) |
| хаха | ha ha (laughter in writing) |
| УБ | Ulaanbaatar (abbreviation) |
| чатлах | to chat online |
| пост | post (on social media) |
| лайк дарах | to click "like" |
| сэтгэгдэл | comment; impression |
| сэтгэгдэл үлдээх | to leave a comment |
| хуваалцах | to share |
| бичлэг | post, video, recording |
| баглах | to pack |
| алдартай | famous |
| амрах | to rest (Сайхан амраарай: sleep well, have a good rest) |
Chat Mongolian is written fast: short sentences, dropped particles, stretched sounds, shortened words. You need to read it easily; you do not need to copy all of it.
| In chat | In standard writing | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Юу хийж бн? | Юу хийж байна вэ? | What are you doing? |
| Ок. ; За за. | За. | OK. |
| хаха | — | laughter |
| Ёооо | Ёо! | oh no! (stretched for feeling) |
| УБ | Улаанбаатар | Ulaanbaatar |
Notice what disappears: the pronoun, the final вэ, and two letters of байна. A question word alone is enough to make a question in a chat.
Some abbreviations belong to every kind of text, newspapers included:
| Abbreviation | Full form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| УБ | Улаанбаатар | Ulaanbaatar |
| МУИС | Монгол Улсын Их Сургууль | the National University of Mongolia |
| г.м. | гэх мэт | and so on, etc. |
| ж.нь | жишээ нь | for example |
In the news, case endings are joined to an abbreviation with a hyphen: УИХ-ын гишүүн, a member of parliament, from Улсын Их Хурал.
Many are English words with a Mongolian verb: пост хийх (to post), лайк дарах (to click "like", literally to press a like), чатлах (to chat). Others are Mongolian: сэтгэгдэл үлдээх (to leave a comment), хуваалцах (to share), бичлэг (a post or a video).
With Nomin, бн, ок and хаха are perfect. In an email to Oyuunaa, an office or anyone older, write every word in full, begin with Сайн байна уу? and close politely. The same person may use both styles within an hour.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Spoken versus written Mongolian · The Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
Many Mongolians also type Mongolian in Latin letters on their phones, a habit called галиг. You will learn to read it quickly once you know the Cyrillic, but keep writing in Cyrillic yourself: it is the standard, and it is what Oyuunaa will mark.
In a chat, За, унтлаа ("right, I'm off to sleep") ends the evening, and Сайхан амраарай is the usual good night.
Choose the right answer, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
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Write your answer on paper or in your head first, then reveal the model answer.
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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