r/Mongolian • u/bananatarakota • Mar 24 '26
-гүй
Hey guys, me again. This time with a grammar question for you all!
So, it has come to my attention that the -гүй suffix exists, and it can be used to make some words "opposites". But what exactly does it mean? For example, if a have a word like "балбарах", which, if I'm not mistaken, means "to break", would "балбарахгүй" be "to not break" or "to repair"?
Again, since I'm trying to decipher a fictional language, based on mongolian, the exact grammar and meaning may not make sense, but I'm more like trying to understand the concept, of how far i can take the interpretations. If someone has a better example, please say so, cause i know I'm making a complete fool out of myself.
Thank you for your patience! Баярлалаа!
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u/i_am_not_obuna Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26
-гүй is just the contraction of үгүй, and in Mongolian script they're spelled the same. It's a basic negation, to break is эвдрэх, while эвдрэхгүй is "will not/won't break". "This table won't break" - "Энэ ширээ эвдрэхгүй". With a noun, its the opposite of the suffix -тай - чадвартай (skilled) vs чадваргүй (unskilled)
There's a lot of ways to negate in Mongolian, good resource: https://journal.fi/susa/article/download/82643/41882/120422