- Post-position. On, on top of. One of three special post-positions in Mongolian that require the preceding word to be modified with either н for words ending in vowels and ан, он, эн, or өн for words ending in consonants following the rule of vowel harmony. The other two special post-positions are доор (under, beneath) and дотор (in).
- Дэвтэр нь ширээн дээр байна. [The notebook is on the desk.]
- Зурагтан дээр [On the television]
- Орон дээр [On the bed]
- Үүдэн дээр [On the door]
- Adjective. Top, best, superior. Often used with this form [past tense verb] + нь + дээр to express the meaning that some action is preferable above all others, roughly equivalent to saying something should be done in English.
- Одоо явсан нь дээр. [It's better to go now.]
- Франц хэлний оронд Монгол хэл сурсан нь дээр. [Instead of French, (you) should study Mongolian.]
- Adverb. In some cases used to express someone is in the middle of doing something, roughly equivalent to saying something like "in a meeting" or "at work." It is not a true post-position, because it does not require modification of the preceding word in normal usage. This form is confined to use with a few select words like work, meeting, and school.
- Тэр ажил дээр байна. [He's at work.]
- Манай дарга одоо хурал дээр байна. [Our manager is in a meeting at the moment.]
The Mongolian Word List currently contains 650 words with 714 definitions and 689 examples, and is a continuously growing database resource. It is not a comprehensive dictionary, nor does it aim to be. The words included in this database are words introduced in The Mongolist language lessons, and this database is intended to be a helpful reference for words encountered in those lessons. Not every entry provides a comprehensive listing of definitions or usages for words. Instead the most common and useful definitions as related to the lessons are provided.
If a word is not found in the Word List, then the system falls back to the Mongolian Word Glossary. The Mongolian Word Glossary is a crude data set of word translations. Although it is extensive with 32,175 words and 70,976 definitions, these entries do not provide the level of detail and accuracy offered by the Word List entries. As an example of the differences between the two resources look at the Word List entry for гэр and the Glossary entry for гэр.
Serious learners should consider getting a published print dictionary when they are ready to learn vocabulary beyond the words introduced in the lessons.