Goal: Give reasons.
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Download the Mongolian audio course24 audio lessons · MP3 · yours to keepWhy Limba is tired
Three days of Tsagaan Sar, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. Before the festival we made buuz until late at night, five hundred of them, and Saraa put them out on the balcony to freeze. Since then we have visited a different family every day, and at every door there is tea, there are buuz, and there is someone who says "Eat more!"
Last night the guests stayed until midnight. Today Nomin asked me why I looked so tired. I had a whole list of reasons.
| Mongolian | English |
|---|---|
| учраас | because (after a verb form: –сан учраас) |
| болохоор | because, as (after a verb form, a noun or an adjective) |
| яагаад | why |
| яагаад гэвэл | because (opening the reason) |
| ядрах | to get tired (ядарсан: tired) |
| шөнө дунд | midnight |
| хүртэл | until, as far as |
| бүгд | everyone, all |
| санаа | idea |
| баяр | holiday, festival |
| хаалттай | closed |
English can say "I'm tired because I didn't sleep". Mongolian always gives the reason first, closes it with the word for "because", and puts the result at the end.
Word for word: "I, not having slept, because, am tired." The order never changes: reason, then учраас, then the result with the main verb.
учраас follows a verb in one of its participle forms. The form tells you when the reason happened:
болохоор does the same work as учраас after a verb form: Зочид шөнө дунд хүртэл байсан болохоор унтаагүй. "Because the guests stayed until midnight, I didn't sleep." It can also follow a noun or an adjective directly:
| Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| –сан учраас | Унтаагүй учраас ядарсан. | I'm tired because I didn't sleep. |
| –сан болохоор | Олон бууз идсэн болохоор унтмаар байна. | I ate lots of buuz, so I want to sleep. |
| noun + болохоор | Баяр болохоор дэлгүүр хаалттай. | It's a holiday, so the shop is closed. |
| –х учраас | Эрт явах учраас эрт унтна. | I'm leaving early, so I'll go to bed early. |
Ask with яагаад and end with вэ or бэ, by the rule of lesson 18:
In a quick answer you can stop after the reason: — Яагаад ядарсан бэ? — Унтаагүй болохоор. "Why are you tired?" "Because I didn't sleep."
You will also hear the reason given as a second sentence, opened by яагаад гэвэл, literally "if you ask why": Би эрт унтна. Яагаад гэвэл маргааш эрт явна. "I'll go to bed early. Because tomorrow I'm leaving early."
Go deeper in the grammar guide: Complex sentences · Mongolian question words
Both words for "because" are case forms in disguise. учраас is учир (reason, cause) with the ablative ending: "from the reason". болохоор is болох (to become, to be) with the instrumental ending: "by its being so". Mongolian turns nouns and verbs into joining words with the same endings you already know.
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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