Goal: Use plurals -ууд/-үүд, -нууд, -чууд, -нар.
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Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepNomin's friends come to visit
Saturday afternoon: two of Nomin's friends from university, Anu and Tulga, come round. The flat fills with laughter and the smell of milk tea.
I listen hard and notice something strange. When people count, the noun stays singular: "ten toy". But when they talk about a group, a plural ending sometimes appears.
Nomin promises to explain it all after tea.
| Mongolian | Letters | English |
|---|---|---|
| найз | naiz | friend |
| найз нар | naiz nar | friends (a group of friends) |
| оюутнууд | oyuutnuud | students (plural of оюутан) |
| тоглоомууд | togloomuud | toys (plural of тоглоом) |
| хүүхдүүд | khüükhdüüd | children (plural of хүүхэд) |
| хүмүүс | khümüüs | people (plural of хүн) |
| монголчууд | mongolchuud | the Mongols, Mongolians |
| Сайн байцгаана уу! | Sain baitsgaana uu! | Hello! (to several people) |
| цай | tsai | tea |
| уух | uukh | to drink; Цай уух уу? = Would you like some tea? |
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.
A Mongolian noun with no ending can mean one thing or several. Оюутан is "a student" or "students"; the situation tells you which. A plural ending is added only when "more than one" really matters and nothing else in the sentence shows it.
After a number, or after хэдэн (how many), the noun always stays singular. The number has already done the counting.
| Ending | Used for | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| –ууд / –үүд | the most common; –ууд for words with а, о, у, –үүд for words with э, ө, ү | тоглоомууд, хотууд, гэрүүд |
| –нууд / –нүүд | some words, often ending in a long vowel: an н comes in first | ширээнүүд (tables), өрөөнүүд (rooms) |
| –чууд / –чүүд | peoples and groups of people | монголчууд (the Mongols), эмэгтэйчүүд (women) |
| нар | a separate word after nouns for people | найз нар (friends), багш нар (teachers) |
Notice that –ууд has only two forms: хот gives хотууд, not a form with о.
A short vowel in the last syllable often drops: оюутан → оюутнууд, хүүхэд → хүүхдүүд. And one very common word is irregular: хүн (person) → хүмүүс (people). Learn these as words.
Нар is written separately, with a space, and it goes with people: найз нар, багш нар, эмч нар. You already know it from та нар (you, several people). Careful: нар is also the word for "sun" (lesson 28). Same letters, two different words.
The adjective том stays as it is; only the noun takes the plural.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: The Mongolian plural · Numbers before a noun
Сайн байцгаана уу! is the greeting for several people at once, the one Saraa uses when Nomin's friends walk in. The piece –цгаа– inside it means "all of you"; you will meet it properly in lesson 134.
Each person answers with the ordinary Сайн байна уу! And when you walk into a room full of people, Сайн байцгаана уу! is the polite way to greet everyone in one go.
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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