The fastest words to learn are the ones you see most. This deck lists the 60 most common Mongolian words, each with a clear English meaning and a real example sentence. Study them below, or download the deck for Anki or Quizlet.
The best Mongolian flashcards to learn first are the words you meet most often. This free deck pairs the 60 most common Mongolian words, like ном, ус, гэр, with a plain English meaning and a real example sentence for each. Download it as a CSV for Anki or Quizlet, or learn the words in context by reading.
CSV columns are word, translation, example (with a header row). Ready to import into Anki, Quizlet, or any spaced-repetition app.
60 most common Mongolian words · Updated July 2026
| Mongolian | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ном | book | Ном ширээн дээр байна. |
| ус | water | Би ус ууж байна. |
| гэр | house; home; yurt | Манай гэр том байна. |
| хоол | food; meal | Хоол маш амттай байна. |
| нохой | dog | Нохой гүйж байна. |
| муур | cat | Манай муур унтаж байна. |
| хүн | person; human being | Тэнд олон хүн байна. |
| хүүхэд | child | Хүүхэд тоглож байна. |
| ажил | work; job | Өнөөдөр ажил их байна. |
| сургууль | school | Хүүхдүүд сургуульд явж байна. |
| өдөр | day | Өнөөдөр сайхан өдөр байна. |
| шөнө | night | Одоо шөнө боллоо. |
| цаг | time; hour; clock | Одоо хэдэн цаг болж байна вэ? |
| мөнгө | money | Надад мөнгө байхгүй. |
| найз | friend | Миний найз хятад хэлээр ярьдаг. |
| хот | city; town | Улаанбаатар бол Монголын нийслэл хот. |
| гэр бүл | family | Манай гэр бүлд дөрвөн хүн байна. |
| аав | father; dad | Аав маань гэртээ байна. |
| ээж | mother; mom | Ээж хоол хийж байна. |
| ах | older brother | Миний ах их сургуульд сурдаг. |
| байх | to be; to exist; to have | Тэд нар гэртээ байна. |
| явах | to go | Би дэлгүүр явж байна. |
| ирэх | to come | Найз маргааш ирнэ. |
| идэх | to eat | Би алим идэж байна. |
| уух | to drink | Би цай уух дуртай. |
| унтах | to sleep | Хүүхэд эрт унтдаг. |
| ажиллах | to work | Би ресторанд ажилладаг. |
| сурах | to study; to learn | Би монгол хэл сурдаг. |
| харах | to see; to look | Чи үүнийг хараж байна уу? |
| сонсох | to listen; to hear | Чи намайг сонсож байна уу? |
| ярих | to speak; to talk | Бид монголоор ярьдаг. |
| бичих | to write | Би захидал бичиж байна. |
| унших | to read | Би ном уншиж байна. |
| өгөх | to give | Би чамд бэлэг өгье. |
| мэдэх | to know | Би үүнийг мэдэхгүй байна. |
| хайрлах | to love; to cherish | Ээж хүүхдээ хайрладаг. |
| сайн | good | Цаг агаар сайн байна. |
| муу | bad | Өнөөдөр цаг агаар муу байна. |
| том | big; large | Энэ машин том байна. |
| жижиг | small; little | Миний гар утас жижиг байна. |
| шинэ | new | Би шинэ машин авсан. |
| хуучин | old (of things) | Манай байшин хуучин байна. |
| халуун | hot | Цай халуун байна. |
| хүйтэн | cold | Ус хүйтэн байна. |
| өндөр | tall; high | Уул маш өндөр байна. |
| хурдан | fast; quick | Морь хурдан гүйдэг. |
| би | I | Би оюутан байна. |
| чи | you (informal) | Чи хаана байна вэ? |
| та | you (polite, formal) | Та хэн бэ? |
| тэр | he; she; that | Тэр манай багш юм. |
| бид | we | Бид маргааш уулзана. |
| энэ | this | Энэ миний гар утас. |
| юу | what | Энэ юу вэ? |
| хэн | who | Тэр хэн бэ? |
| хаана | where | Дэлгүүр хаана байна вэ? |
| тийм | yes | Тийм, энэ зөв байна. |
| үгүй | no | Үгүй, надад цаг алга. |
| нэг | one | Надад нэг эгч байна. |
| хоёр | two | Надад хоёр хүүхэд байна. |
| гурав | three | Ширээн дээр гурван алим байна. |
Flashcards fix words in memory; reading teaches you to use them. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Mongolian with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, and save any word to review later. Free to start.
The deck is built from high-frequency words, the ones that make up most of everyday Mongolian. Learning them first gives you the biggest return per card, because you will meet them again and again the moment you start reading or listening.
Flashcards work best with spaced repetition: review a card, and if you knew it, wait longer before seeing it again. Anki and Quizlet both do this automatically. Download the CSV, import it, and review a few minutes a day. Keep the example sentence on the card so you learn how the word actually behaves, not just its dictionary gloss.
One honest limit: flashcards build recognition, but you learn to use a word by meeting it in real context. Pair this deck with reading. When a word you drilled shows up in a story, it stops being a flashcard and becomes part of the language. That pairing is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
Best Mongolian books for your level (A1 to C1) →
Not sure of your level? Take the Mongolian CEFR test (A1 to C2) →
How long does it take to learn Mongolian? See the timeline →
Start with the most frequent words. A few thousand high-frequency Mongolian words cover the majority of everyday text, so each of those cards pays off far more than a rare one. This deck gives you the top 60 to begin with, each with a meaning and an example sentence, so you learn the word in context rather than in isolation. When a card sticks, meet the word again in a real book to lock it in.
Click Download CSV to save the deck, then in Anki choose File, Import and select the file. Map the first column to the front (the Mongolian word) and the second to the back (the meaning); the third column holds an example sentence you can add to the back too. The first row is a header, so tell Anki to ignore it or delete that one card. For Quizlet, use Copy for Quizlet and paste into the import box with Tab between term and definition.
Flashcards are excellent for building recognition and drilling the first few thousand words, but on their own they teach words out of context. You learn to use Mongolian, not just recognize it, by reading and hearing the words in real sentences. The efficient combination is flashcards for raw vocabulary plus reading for context, collocation and grammar. That is exactly what Lingo7 is built around.
Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 common words cover most everyday Mongolian text, and around 5,000 gets you comfortably through many novels. You do not need all of them before you start: with sentence-aligned translation you can begin reading real Mongolian at a couple of thousand words and pick up the rest from context. This deck is a fast way to front-load the most useful 60.