Goal: Make polite requests.
Course progress: lesson 66 / 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 keepSaraa gives Limba advice
Saraa is a doctor, and before any trip she becomes a doctor at home too. Tonight it is my turn: a list of advice, given in the kindest form Mongolian has.
I notice that she speaks to me one way and to Temuulen another. To me, almost every sentence ends in –аарай or –ээрэй. To Temuulen, it is one short word, and he runs.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| өмсөх | to put on, to wear |
| өөр | other, else |
| буцалсан ус | boiled water |
| сайн | well |
| хооллох | to have a meal, to eat |
| дахин | again |
| мэнд | greetings, regards |
| хүргэх | to deliver, to pass on; мэнд хүргэх to give someone's regards |
| ээж | mother; also what a woman calls her mother-in-law |
| нааш | here, this way (towards the speaker) |
| авчрах | to bring |
| цүнх | bag |
Mongolian puts politeness inside the verb ending. You choose the form by the person you speak to and by the moment.
| Form | How it is built | When to use it | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| bare stem | the stem alone | right now; children, family, close friends | Ир! Суу! |
| –аарай | stem + –аарай / –оорой / –ээрэй / –өөрэй | polite; advice, instructions, wishes | Ирээрэй! |
| –на уу | present-future + уу / үү | formal requests: "would you…?" | Хүлээнэ үү. |
The shortest order is the stem itself: ирэх → Ир! "Come!", суух → Суу! "Sit!". A few verbs hide a vowel in the dictionary form that comes back in the stem: авчрах → Авчир! "Bring it!"
Four shapes by vowel harmony: аваарай, очоорой, ирээрэй, өгөөрэй. A stem ending in a long vowel or й adds г: уугаарай, суугаарай, байгаарай. –аарай looks ahead, "when the time comes", so it is the natural form for advice, and the safe choice whenever you are unsure.
The present-future with уу or үү is the formal "please", heard in offices, shops and announcements.
Уучлаарай "excuse me, sorry", from уучлах "to forgive", and Сайн яваарай "have a good trip" are –аарай forms too. So are the good wishes you say every evening: Сайхан унтаарай! "Sleep well!" and, to a guest at the door, Дараа ирээрэй! "Come again!"
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian imperatives · Politeness and address
A married woman in Mongolia usually calls her mother-in-law ээж "mother" and her father-in-law аав "father". So Saraa's Ээжид мэнд хүргээрэй means "Give my regards to Mother": to Bat's mother, Dulmaa. Greetings sent with a traveller are taken seriously, and it is polite to pass them on soon after you arrive.
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 66 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