Lesson 30: Review: describing my host family

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1Limba’s diary

Limba writes a postcard home

Late September. At the post office I buy a postcard with a picture of the steppe, and I decide to write home for the first time.

I try it in Mongolian first, with Nomin as my examiner. Six short sentences, and every one of them uses something from this month: family words, numbers, байна, –тай, adjectives, colours.

Then I translate it for my family in Canada, who will not believe I wrote it.

2Dialogue

LimbaНомин, энэ миний ил захидал.Nomin, this is my postcard.
НоминСайхан зураг байна!What a lovely picture!
LimbaМиний монгол гэр бүл дөрвөн хүнтэй.(reading) My Mongolian family has four people.
НоминЗөв!Right!
LimbaБат инженер. Сараа эмч. Номин оюутан.Bat is an engineer. Saraa is a doctor. Nomin is a student.
НоминБас Тэмүүлэн!And Temuulen!
LimbaТэмүүлэн арван настай. Тэр олон тоглоомтой.Temuulen is ten. He has lots of toys.
ТэмүүлэнМиний тоглоомууд улаан, шар, ногоон!My toys are red, yellow and green!
LimbaМанай байр том биш. Миний өрөө жижиг, цонх том.Our flat isn't big. My room is small, the window is big.
НоминХалуун ус байхгүй!No hot water!
LimbaТийм ээ! Энэ сайхан гэр бүл.So true! It's a lovely family.

3Words in this lesson

Mongolian	Letters	English
гэр бүл	ger bül	family
ил захидал	il zakhidal	postcard
байр	bair	flat, apartment; building
инженер	injyenyer	engineer
эмч	emch	doctor
зөв	zöv	right, correct
халуун ус	khaluun us	hot water
үеэл	üyeel	cousin

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

Unit 3 in one table

Point	Lesson	Example
family words	21	аав, ээж, ах, эгч, дүү
numbers 1 to 10	22	нэг, хоёр, гурав … арав
numbers before a noun	23	гурван хүн, арван настай
there is: байна	24	Энд ширээ байна.
there isn't: байхгүй	25	Халуун ус байхгүй.
having: –тай, –той, –тэй	26	Би эгчтэй.
adjective before the noun	27	жижиг өрөө
colours	28	цагаан гэр
the plural	29	найз нар, хүүхдүүд

A family in six sentences

Here is a model postcard. Each sentence uses one point of the unit.

Манай гэр бүл таван хүнтэй.Our family has five people.

Миний аав багш.My father is a teacher.

Миний ээж эмч.My mother is a doctor.

Би хоёр дүүтэй.I have two younger brothers or sisters.

Манай гэр том биш.Our home is not big.

Бид муургүй.We have no cat.

Five things to check before you write

Before a noun, use the attributive form of the number: гурван хүн, never гурав хүн. Only нэг and хоёр do not change.
After a number, no plural: таван хүн, never таван хүмүүс.
–тай has no ө form: өрөөтэй, өнгөтэй. After –тай and –той the question particle is юу; after –тэй it is юү.
–гүй never changes: ахгүй, дүүгүй, муургүй.
The place of the adjective matters: жижиг өрөө is "a small room"; Өрөө жижиг. is "The room is small."

There is, there isn't, I have

Keep the three apart. байна says something is there; байхгүй says it is not there; –тай says someone has it.

Энд сүү байна.here milk is"There is milk here."

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

Би хоёр эгчтэй.I two sister-COM"I have two older sisters."

Go deeper in the grammar guide: The comitative case · Numbers before a noun · The Mongolian plural

5Good to know

Гэр бүл (family) is built from гэр, the home, and бүл, the people who live in it. The family is first of all a household.

Mongolians use the words ах, эгч and дүү for cousins too, and often for close family friends. If you need to be exact, a cousin is үеэл. So when someone introduces "my older brother", do not be surprised to learn later that he is a cousin.

6Exercises

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

Which word means "older sister"?
Дүү means…
How do you say "three people"?
Complete: Тэр хэдэн ___ вэ? (How old is he?)
How do you say "There is no hot water"?
How do you say "There is a table here"?
"Having a horse": морь + ___
Complete: Чи эгчтэй ___? (Do you have an older sister?)
How do you say "I have no younger brother or sister"?
How do you say "a small room"?
Цонх том. means…
Which colour is ногоон?
How do you say "the Mongols"?
Complete: арван ___ (ten children)
In the dialogue, how many people are in Limba's Mongolian family?

Well done! Lesson 30 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 "My family has four people."
Show answer
Манай гэр бүл дөрвөн хүнтэй. / Миний гэр бүл дөрвөн хүнтэй.
Say "I have two older sisters."
Show answer
Би хоёр эгчтэй.
Say "My father is an engineer."
Show answer
Миний аав инженер.
Ask a child "How old are you?"
Show answer
Чи хэдэн настай вэ?
Say "There is no milk."
Show answer
Сүү байхгүй.
Say "Our flat is not big."
Show answer
Манай байр том биш.
Say "a white ger".
Show answer
цагаан гэр
Say "five friends".
Show answer
таван найз

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