Goal: Say where you are going.
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Now hear it and say it
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Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepLimba takes a bus to Sükhbaatar Square
My first trip alone into the centre. I want to see Sükhbaatar Square, the huge square in front of the Government Palace, where a huge statue of Chinggis Khaan sits.
At the bus stop an old lady asks me where I am going, and she makes sure I take the right bus.
On the way I hear one little word again and again: руу, "towards". It always comes after the place, never before.
| Mongolian | Letters | English |
|---|---|---|
| руу / рүү | ruu / rüü | towards, to (after a place) |
| луу / лүү | luu / lüü | towards, to (after a word ending in р) |
| хаашаа | khaashaa | where to |
| явах | yavakh | to go; явж байна = am going (now) |
| талбай | talbai | square (in a city) |
| Сүхбаатарын талбай | Sükhbaataryn talbai | Sükhbaatar Square |
| эмгэн | emgen | old woman |
| жолооч | jolooch | driver |
| баяртай | bayartai | goodbye |
| Сайн яваарай! | Sain yavaarai! | Goodbye! Have a good trip! (to someone leaving) |
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.
To say where you are going, put руу or рүү after the place. It is written as a separate word, and the place itself does not change at all.
Явж байна means "am going, is going" right now. You will learn how this form works in lesson 43; for now, use it as a set phrase.
Vowel harmony gives two forms: руу after words with а, о, у, and рүү after words with э, ө, ү (or only и). After a word that already ends in р, Mongolian avoids two r-sounds in a row and uses луу / лүү instead.
| Place | Towards it |
|---|---|
| хот (city) | хот руу |
| зах (market) | зах руу |
| талбай (square) | талбай руу |
| төв (centre) | төв рүү |
| хөдөө (countryside) | хөдөө рүү |
| Улаанбаатар | Улаанбаатар луу |
| гэр (home) | гэр лүү |
| дэлгүүр (shop) | дэлгүүр лүү |
Three question words, three questions:
| Question word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| хаана | where (place) | Банк хаана байна вэ? |
| хаанаас | from where | Чи хаанаас ирсэн бэ? |
| хаашаа | where to | Чи хаашаа явж байна вэ? |
Do not mix the dative-locative of lesson 35 with руу. The dative-locative says where you are; руу says where you are heading.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Movement towards a place · The dative-locative case
Mongolian goodbyes depend on who is leaving. The one who stays says Сайн яваарай! "Go well!" The one who leaves says Сайн сууж байгаарай! "Stay well!" (literally "keep sitting well").
Баяртай!, literally "with joy", works for both. That is why Limba, getting off the bus, says Баяртай! and the old lady, who stays on, answers Сайн яваарай!
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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