Lesson 25: There isn't: байхгүй

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1Limba’s diary

The hot water is off in the flat

Seven o'clock in the morning, shower time. I turn the tap: cold. I wait: still cold. I run to the kitchen wrapped in my towel.

Nomin is not surprised at all. The flats of Ulaanbaatar get their hot water from the city's power plants, and when the pipes are repaired, there is none. Bat works at one of those plants, so this morning everybody teases him, even though he has already left for work.

Today I learn the most useful negative word in the city: байхгүй, "there isn't".

2Dialogue

LimbaНомин! Халуун ус байхгүй!Nomin! There's no hot water!
НоминБайхгүй юу? Хүйтэн ус байна уу?None at all? Is there cold water?
LimbaХүйтэн ус байна.There's cold water.
НоминӨнөөдөр халуун ус байхгүй. Маргааш байна.There's no hot water today. There will be tomorrow.
ТэмүүлэнХалуун ус байхгүй! Сайн байна!No hot water! Great!
СарааТэмүүлэн! Зүгээр, данх байна.Temuulen! It's all right, we have a kettle.
LimbaЧиний аав хаана байна вэ?Where is your dad?
НоминАав байхгүй. Тэр инженер. Халуун ус түүний ажил!Dad isn't here. He's an engineer. Hot water is his job!
СарааЛимба, сүүтэй цай байна.Limba, there's milk tea.
LimbaБаярлалаа! Цай байна, халуун ус байхгүй!Thank you! There's tea, but no hot water!

3Words in this lesson

Mongolian	Letters	English
байхгүй	baikhgüi	there isn't, there are no; is not here
халуун	khaluun	hot
халуун ус	khaluun us	hot water
хүйтэн ус	khüiten us	cold water
данх	dankh	kettle
засвар	zasvar	repair
цахилгаан	tsakhilgaan	electricity
алчуур	alchuur	towel

The “Letters” column is a letter-by-letter guide to the Cyrillic, not exact pronunciation. It disappears after level A1: by then you read Cyrillic directly.

4Grammar and explanations

байхгүй: "there isn't"

The opposite of байна (there is) is байхгүй (there isn't, there are no). It takes the same place, at the very end of the sentence:

Халуун ус байхгүй.hot water is-not"There is no hot water."

Энд алчуур байхгүй.here towel is-not"There is no towel here."

Цахилгаан байхгүй.electricity is-not"There is no electricity."

A person who is not there

Like байна, байхгүй also works for people. It says that someone is not here at the moment:

Аав байхгүй.Dad is-not"Dad isn't here."

Номин энд байхгүй.Nomin here is-not"Nomin is not here."

Answering "Is there…?"

A question with байна уу? gets one of two short answers:

Сүү байна уу? — Байна."Is there any milk? — Yes, there is."

Сүү байна уу? — Байхгүй."Is there any milk? — No, there isn't."

You can also ask with байхгүй, when you are surprised. After байхгүй, the particle is юу: Халуун ус байхгүй юу? ("Is there no hot water?").

биш or байхгүй?

English says "not" in both of these sentences; Mongolian does not. биш (lesson 16) says what something is not. байхгүй says that something is not there at all:

Энэ сүү биш.this milk not"This is not milk."

Сүү байхгүй.milk is-not"There is no milk."

So ask yourself: am I saying what it is, or whether it is there? If you are not sure, look at the question: уу? after a noun calls for биш; байна уу? calls for байхгүй.

A look inside the word

байхгүй is байх, the dictionary form of байна, plus –гүй, an ending that means "without". You will meet –гүй again in lesson 26, on nouns (ахгүй, "without an older brother"), and in lesson 45, on verbs.

Go deeper in the grammar guide: Saying no: биш, байхгүй, –гүй · байна: to be, there is · Yes and no in Mongolian

5Good to know

Ulaanbaatar is heated by a few big combined power plants: they make electricity and, at the same time, the hot water that runs through the city's pipes to the radiators and taps of the flats. Every year, mostly in summer, the network is checked and repaired, district by district, and the hot water is cut for a week or two. Mongolians call it засвар, the repair, and keep a kettle ready.

6Exercises

Choose the right answer, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.

What does байхгүй mean?
How do you say "There is no hot water"?
Someone asks Сүү байна уу? There is none. What do you answer?
Аав байхгүй. means…
Complete: Халуун ус байхгүй ___? (Is there no hot water?)
How do you say "This is not milk"?
How do you say "There is no milk"?
Where does байхгүй go in the sentence?
In the dialogue, is there cold water?
Why is Temuulen happy?

Well done! Lesson 25 is ticked on your course map.

Write it yourself

Write your answer on paper or in your head first, then reveal the model answer.

Say "There is no hot water."
Show answer
Халуун ус байхгүй.
Ask "Is there cold water?"
Show answer
Хүйтэн ус байна уу?
Answer "No, there isn't."
Show answer
Байхгүй.
Say "Dad isn't here."
Show answer
Аав байхгүй.
Say "This is not tea." Then say "There is no tea."
Show answer
Энэ цай биш. Цай байхгүй.

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