Goal: Express emotions at departure.
Course progress: lesson 199 / 200 · tip: use the ← and → keys to change lesson
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 keepAt the airport again
The same airport, one year later. We came in two cars, Bat's and Bold's, because we did not all fit in one, and Saraa had packed buuz for the journey.
Nomin talked without stopping so that she would not cry. Temuulen did not say a word. At the gate everyone told me "Сайн яваарай", and I answered with what the one who leaves must say: "Сайн сууж байгаарай".
Then I cried anyway. A year ago I could not have said goodbye in Mongolian. Today I could, and that made it harder.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| санах | to miss; to remember |
| явмааргүй байна | I don't want to go |
| үлдмээр байна | I would like to stay |
| уйлмаар байна | I feel like crying |
| гунигтай | sad |
| сэтгэл хөдлөх | to be moved, to be touched |
| ингэж | like this, in this way |
| тосох | to meet (someone arriving), to pick up |
| замдаа | on the way, for the journey |
| хүртэл | until |
| хайртай | loving (-д хайртай: to love) |
| баяртай | goodbye; happy, joyful |
–маар / –моор / –мээр / –мөөр байна (lesson 61) says what you would like to do. Put –гүй after it and you have what you would rather not do.
| Verb | I'd like to… | I don't want to… |
|---|---|---|
| явах | явмаар байна | явмааргүй байна |
| үлдэх | үлдмээр байна | үлдмээргүй байна |
| ирэх | ирмээр байна | ирмээргүй байна |
The same form also names an urge you feel rising: уйлмаар байна, "I feel like crying", инээмээр байна, "I feel like laughing". At a farewell you will hear both meanings in the same minute:
санах means both "to remember" and "to miss". The person or thing goes in the accusative. With people, and in the future or the progressive, it usually means "miss":
сэтгэл (heart, feelings) is the subject of many feelings: Сэтгэл хөдөлж байна ("I am moved", literally "the heart is moving"). With an adjective: Гунигтай байна ("I'm sad"), and as advice, with the –х хэрэггүй of lesson 81:
Mongolians rarely say "I am sad" about a farewell in so many words. They say that they will miss you, that they want you to come back, and they give you food for the road. Listen for those sentences: they are the feelings.
| Said by | Words |
|---|---|
| the one who stays | Сайн яваарай! |
| the one who leaves | Сайн сууж байгаарай! |
| either | Баяртай! ; Дахин уулзах хүртэл баяртай! |
хүртэл ("until") follows the –х participle: уулзах хүртэл, "until meeting". And баяртай means both "goodbye" and "joyful": Mongolian ends even its farewells on a happy word.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Wanting and needing in Mongolian · Mongolian greetings and farewells
When a traveller leaves, someone in the family often sprinkles a little milk after them, an old wish for a safe and smooth road. Do not look back at it: just go.
Tears at a farewell are not embarrassing in Mongolia. They are a sign that the time together mattered, and your hosts will remember them as a compliment.
Choose the right answer, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
Well done! Lesson 199 is ticked on your course map.
Write your answer on paper or in your head first, then reveal the model answer.
☰ See all 200 lessons · Back to top ↑
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