Goal: Say what you did not do.
Course progress: lesson 54 / 200 · tip: use the ← and → keys to change lesson
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 forgot to buy bread
This morning Saraa asked me to buy bread and milk on my way home. I walked past the little shop on the corner twice, thinking about the past tense, and arrived with empty hands.
Saraa only laughed and handed me a few banknotes, so I went straight back out into the cold. But the shop had its own surprise waiting for me.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| талх | bread; a loaf |
| сүү | milk |
| мартах | to forget |
| бас | also, too; with a negative: either |
| дэлгүүр | shop |
| хаах | to close |
| мөнгө | money |
| худалдагч | shop assistant |
| дуусах | to run out, to end |
| ирэх | to come; of goods: to come in |
English puts "didn't" in front of the verb. Mongolian changes the ending of the verb itself. To deny something in the past, drop –сан and put –аа in its place, followed by –гүй, the negative you know from –хгүй and байхгүй.
| Stem | Past | Negative past |
|---|---|---|
| ав– (take, buy) | авсан | аваагүй |
| оч– (go to) | очсон | очоогүй |
| ир– (come) | ирсэн | ирээгүй |
| өг– (give) | өгсөн | өгөөгүй |
The first part, –аа / –оо / –ээ / –өө, follows vowel harmony like –сан. The second part, –гүй, never changes: it keeps its ү even after back vowels, so there is no –гуй.
These stems insert г before the ending.
| Stem | Negative past |
|---|---|
| хаа– (close) | хаагаагүй |
| уу– (drink) | уугаагүй |
| хий– (do) | хийгээгүй |
| бай– (be) | байгаагүй |
The same form also means "has not … (yet)": Дэлгүүр хаагаагүй. "The shop hasn't closed (yet)." The context tells you whether English needs "yet".
Answer a question in the past by repeating the verb, positive or negative.
Mongolians also say –сангүй, keeping –сан and adding –гүй: харсангүй "didn't see", ирсэнгүй "didn't come". It often carries a touch of disappointment, as in "it just didn't come". Recognise it, and use –аагүй yourself.
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Negation in Mongolian · The four Mongolian pasts
When you answer a Mongolian question, repeat the verb rather than saying only "yes" or "no". Чи идсэн үү? "Have you eaten?" is answered Идсэн or Идээгүй. A bare Үгүй "no" only refuses the question; Mongolians nearly always add the verb that does the real denying: Үгүй, идээгүй.
Choose the right answer, then press Check my answers. Score 70% or more and the lesson is ticked on your course map.
Well done! Lesson 54 is ticked on your course map.
Write your answer on paper or in your head first, then reveal the model answer.
☰ See all 200 lessons · Back to top ↑
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