Goal: Ask where a place is and follow simple directions.
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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 keepLimba is lost near the Gandan monastery
Today I want to visit Gandan, the great Buddhist monastery on a hill west of the centre. I get off the bus one stop too early, and soon I am lost among the fences and little streets of a ger district.
A kind man walking his dog shows me the way: straight on, then the monastery is on the right, across the road.
I understand almost every word. It feels like a small victory.
| Mongolian | Letters | English |
|---|---|---|
| хийд | khiid | monastery |
| ойрхон | oirkhon | near, close by |
| хол | khol | far |
| эндээс | endees | from here (энд + –ээс) |
| чигээрээ | chigeeree | straight on, straight ahead |
| яваарай | yavaarai | please go (from явах) |
| баруун | baruun | right; west |
| зүүн | züün | left; east |
| тал | tal | side |
| зам | zam | road |
| наана | naana | on this side |
| цаана | tsaana | on the far side, beyond |
| зүгээр | zügeer | it's nothing; you're welcome |
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.
Start with Уучлаарай (excuse me), name the place, and ask хаана байна вэ?
To ask about the distance, use эндээс "from here", the ablative of энд (lesson 36):
The answer is Хол. (Far.), Хол биш. (Not far.) or Ойрхон. (Close by.)
Баруун is right and зүүн is left. Тал means "side", and with the dative-locative of lesson 35 it tells you where something is: баруун талд "on the right", зүүн талд "on the left".
Яваарай is a polite way of saying "go"; you will learn this ending in lesson 66.
Наана means "on this side" (nearer to you) and цаана "on the far side, beyond". With a landmark, the landmark takes the genitive of lesson 37:
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| замын наана | on this side of the road |
| замын цаана | on the other side of the road |
| хийдийн цаана | beyond the monastery |
As at the market (lesson 34), ask two yes/no questions in a row: Баруун талд уу, зүүн талд уу? "On the right or on the left?" The person answers with one of the two: Баруун талд.
When someone gives you directions, repeat each step aloud: Чигээрээ. Баруун талд. It shows you have understood, and the other person will correct you if you have not.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Everyday phrases · Postpositions
In traditional Mongolian orientation you face south, where the door of a ger opens. So баруун (right) is also west, and зүүн (left) is also east. The front, өмнө, is the south and the back, ар, is the north.
You can see it on the map: Өмнөговь is the South Gobi, and Архангай, where Bat's mother lives, is "the Khangai of the north".
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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