Goal: Tell about life in the ger.
Course progress: lesson 90 / 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 keepLeaving the camp: thank you and goodbye
Bold arrived this morning to drive us back to Ulaanbaatar, and I did not want to go. In one week I have milked a cow (badly), made milk tea (half of it), ridden the grey horse (slowly), and learnt to come in, sit and keep quiet the right way in a ger.
Dulmaa gave us a bag of dried curds for the road. At the door I thanked her with the long sentence Nomin had taught me. She laughed, hugged me and reminded me about my hat.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| зам | road, way; замдаа: on your way |
| хүлээн авах | to receive, to welcome (guests) |
| санах | to remember; to miss |
| дахин | again |
| хүмүүс | people |
| долоо хоног | week |
| битгий | don't (in front of a verb) |
| хэрэггүй | there is no need to (after a verb in –х) |
| гэж | "saying": closes quoted words or thoughts |
| нь | his, her, its, their; as for |
| шүү | mind you, you know |
| биз дээ | …, isn't it? |
| минийх | mine |
A week in the ger taught you the small words and endings that make Mongolian sound natural.
| Lesson | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 81 | don't / no need to | Битгий исгэрээрэй. Тогших хэрэггүй. |
| 82 | one's own: –аа / –оо / –ээ / –өө | малгайгаа, гэртээ, номоо |
| 83 | and then: –аад / –оод / –ээд / –өөд | Цайгаа уугаад яваарай. |
| 84 | together, and: –ж / –ч | Морь унаж сурсан. |
| 85 | reported words: гэж | "Нохой хаздаг" гэж хэлсэн. |
| 86 | his, her; as for: нь | Хоол нь амттай. |
| 87 | tone: шүү, даа, юм | Даарна шүү! Гайгүй дээ. |
| 88 | asking for agreement: биз дээ, тийм үү | Минийх, тийм үү? |
| 89 | mine, whose: минийх, хэнийх | Энэ аяга хэнийх вэ? |
Do not mix up three different things that can end in –аа:
Look at where it is: on a noun, on a verb, or alone at the end.
In every sentence with –аад or –ж, only the last verb carries the tense: уугаад яваарай is an invitation, уугаад явсан is past, уугаад явна is future. Read to the end before you translate.
миний малгай (my hat: the owner named in front), малгай минь (my hat, warmer, after the noun), and малгайгаа (one's own hat, pointing back to the subject). And standing alone: минийх (mine).
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Mongolian converbs · The reflexive possessive · Mongolian final particles
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". To thank a family for a visit, not just for a cup of tea, learn the whole sentence: Биднийг гэртээ хүлээн авсанд маш их баярлалаа.
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 90 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