Writing
What this section tests
Writing tasks ask you to produce connected Mongolian text - a short message, a description, a letter, or a short opinion paragraph. Assessment focuses on task completion, organisation, grammatical accuracy (suffixes, harmony), vocabulary range, and appropriate register.
Concepts to master
- Sentence architecture: subject–object–predicate order; modifiers before nouns; final verb carries tense and person.
- Cohesion: use -ж/-ч and -ад/-эд to chain actions; гэхдээ, учир нь, тиймээс, мөн to link ideas; эхлээд… дараа нь… эцэст нь for sequence.
- Register: informal letters use -аа/-ээ and тийм ээ; formal writing avoids contractions and uses full forms.
- Punctuation: Mongolian uses standard comma and full stop; quotation with "…" гэж.
- Spelling discipline: vowel harmony and long vowels (аа, оо, ээ, уу, үү) are frequent error sources.
Traps
- Under-length answers - a two-sentence reply cannot show range; aim for the stated word count.
- Copying the prompt - reuse of prompt wording earns no credit; paraphrase.
- Harmony slips - the commonest accuracy loss in free writing.
- Missing task element - if the prompt asks for reason plus example, supply both.
Worked example
Prompt: write a short note inviting a friend to dinner. Draft skeleton: greeting (Сайн байна уу?) → purpose (Би чамайг оройн хоолонд урих гэж байна) → time/place (Маргааш 19:00 цагт манай гэрт) → request for reply (Хариу бичээрэй) → closing. Each clause ends in a verb; time and place precede the verb.
Rule of thumb
Before writing, list the required content points and allocate one sentence to each; then check every suffix's vowel harmony in a final pass. Leave two minutes for proofreading harmony and long vowels.