Vlastnictví: байх a байхгүй

"I have": two patterns

Mongolian has no verb "to have". It uses one of two patterns instead.

1. "To me there is": Надад ... байна

The owner goes in the dative-locative, and байна ("there is") ends the sentence:

Mongolian	English
Надад машин байна.	I have a car.
Танд ах байна уу?	Do you have an older brother?
Надад цаг байхгүй.	I don't have time.
Бидэнд асуулт байна.	We have a question.

The pronouns: надад (to me), чамд (to you), танд (to you, polite), түүнд (to him/her), бидэнд (to us), тэдэнд (to them).

2. "I am with": the comitative -тай

The owner is the subject, and the thing owned takes -тай/-тэй/-той:

• Би машинтай. - I have a car. (literally "I am with-car")
• Тэр хоёр хүүхэдтэй. - She has two children.
• Та гэр бүлтэй юу? - Are you married? (literally "Are you with-family?")

The negative uses -гүй (without): Би машингүй - I don't have a car.

Do not mix them

Each pattern is complete on its own. A sentence that combines both, such as *Надад машинтай, is a learner's blend; Mongolians say either Надад машин байна or Би машинтай. The first sounds like "there is a car for me", good for things you have with you or available; the second describes the owner, good for family, features and possessions that define someone.

A herder in the Gobi might tell you Манайд хоёр зуун ямаа байна - We have two hundred goats (literally "at ours there are"). Манайд, "at our place", is the everyday way to talk about a household's possessions.