Goal: Say first, second, third.
Course progress: lesson 57 / 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 keepFloors of the building and the bus stops
Our building has twelve floors, and the family lives on the fifth. The lift works most days. Today it doesn't, and Temuulen wants to visit a friend who lives much higher up.
In the afternoon I take the bus into the centre on my own for the first time. A woman at the stop tells me where to get off, and I count the stops on my fingers: first, second, third.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| давхар | floor, storey |
| цахилгаан шат | lift (elevator) |
| ажиллах | to work; of a machine: to run |
| хэддүгээр | which (in a numbered series)? |
| өндөр | high, tall |
| өдөр бүр | every day |
| гарах | to go up, to climb; to go out |
| буудал | stop, station |
| Төв шуудан | the Central Post Office |
| эхний | first (of a series) |
| дараагийн | next |
| буух | to get off |
| зарлал | announcement |
You met –дугаар / –дүгээр in the names of the months. The same ending turns any number into an ordinal ("first", "fifth", "twelfth"). It goes on the counting form of the number, and vowel harmony picks the shape.
| Number | Ordinal |
|---|---|
| нэг | нэгдүгээр (first) |
| хоёр | хоёрдугаар (second) |
| гурав | гуравдугаар (third) |
| дөрөв | дөрөвдүгээр (fourth) |
| тав | тавдугаар (fifth) |
| зургаа | зургаадугаар (sixth) |
| долоо | долоодугаар (seventh) |
| найм | наймдугаар (eighth) |
| ес | есдүгээр (ninth) |
| арав | аравдугаар (tenth) |
| арван хоёр | арван хоёрдугаар (twelfth) |
Like every Mongolian modifier, the ordinal stands in front of what it describes, and the noun does not change.
Do not mix up the form used before a noun (lesson 23) with the ordinal.
Two more words place things in a series. эхний means "the first, the opening one" of a series or a journey: эхний буудал "the first stop", эхний өдөр "the first day". дараагийн means "next": дараагийн буудал "the next stop". For things that carry a number, such as floors, lessons and months, use the ordinal: нэгдүгээр давхар, нэгдүгээр хичээл.
хэддүгээр asks for an ordinal, "which number?": Та хэддүгээр давхарт амьдардаг вэ? "Which floor do you live on?"
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian numbers
Floors are counted from the street: нэгдүгээр давхар is the floor at ground level, so what British English calls the first floor is хоёрдугаар давхар in Ulaanbaatar. On signs and in addresses the ordinal is shortened with –р: 5-р давхар is the fifth floor.
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 57 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