This guide adapts rules and examples from Microsoft’s 49-page Mongolian (Cyrillic) Localization Style Guide (originally written for software/UI localization). The underlying linguistic rules apply universally — to legal contracts, medical documents, marketing copy, and any Mongolian translation work in Cyrillic script. Restructured and reformatted as a general Mongolian translator reference by ChatsControl.

Mongolian (Cyrillic) Translation Style Guide — Voice, Word Choice & Common Pitfalls (Legal, Medical, Marketing, IT)¶

TL;DR¶

• Modern Mongolian (Cyrillic) translation prefers warm, conversational register; replace formal/classic forms (зорилгод хүрэх → хийх, удаах → дараах, лавлах → үзэх, шаардах → хэрэгтэй байх) with modern equivalents in consumer-facing content.
• Mongolian is agglutinative — nouns inflect with suffixes per vowel harmony rules; word stems can change (мэдээлэл → мэдээллээс for ‘from the information’); use suffixes for case marking on acronyms with en-dash (RAM-д).
• Avoid overuse of pronouns (та, таны, танд); Mongolian uses fewer pronouns than English; prefer neutral structures and passive voice when ‘you’ isn’t strictly needed for direction.
• Capitalization is sparing in Mongolian — only first word of UI elements, proper nouns, acronyms, products. Don’t capitalize language names (монгол хэл), ‘web,’ or seasons. Internet IS capitalized.
• Reference authoritative Mongolian sources: Орчин цагийн монгол хэл (Mongolian State University of Education, 2004), Я.Цэвэл — Монгол хэлний товч тайлбар толь, Ц.Дамдинсүрэн’s Монгол үсгийн дүрмийн толь, Монсудар publishing dictionaries.

Reference materials¶

Normative References:

1. Орчин цагийн монгол хэл. Монгол улсын боловсролын их сургууль. 2004.
2. Орчин цагийн монгол хэлний өгүүлбэр зүй. Б.Пүрэв-Очир. 2001.
3. Орчин цагийн монгол хэлний үг зүй. Ц.Өнөрбаян. 2004.
4. Орчин цагийн монгол хэлний үг зүйн байгуулал. 1987.
5. Монгол хэлний найруулга зүй. Ц.Сүхбаатар. 1998.
6. Монгол хэлний товч тайлбар толь. Я.Цэвэл.
7. Монгол үсгийн дүрмийн толь. Ц. Дамдинсүрэн, Б. Осор. 1983.
8. Монгол кирилл бичгийн зөв бичих зүйн толь. “Монсудар” хэвлэлийн газар.
9. Монгол хэлний товчилсон үгийн толь. “Монсудар” хэвлэлийн газар.

Informative References:

1. mn.wikipedia.org
2. Монгол хэлний кирилл үсгийг латин үсгээр галиглах тухай
3. ОпенМН нэр томъёо
4. About Mongolian language (in English): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_language

Register and tone for modern Mongolian translation¶

Three principles define the modern Mongolian register for consumer-facing content:

• Warm and relaxed. Natural, less formal, grounded in honest conversations.
• Crisp and clear. Written for scanning first, reading second.
• Ready to help. Anticipates the reader’s needs and offers information at the right moment.

Guidelines:

• Write short, easy-to-read sentences.
• Avoid passive voice — it’s difficult to read and understand quickly.
• Be pleasant; ensure explanations appear individualized.
• Avoid slang; be careful with colloquialisms.

Brand and product names. Avoid overuse of company/brand or product names. Avoid the corporate “we” (“Microsoft announces…”, “We’re proud to introduce…”). Keep focus on “you” — the reader.

Why this matters: Bureaucratic register damages outcomes across spheres. In marketing copy it kills conversion. In patient-facing medical materials it reduces comprehension and compliance. In software UI it creates friction. In consumer-facing legal documents plain Mongolian improves regulator and reader trust.

Audience targeting¶

Choose technical terms for technical audiences; for consumers use common words. Applies to all spheres — legal corporate counsel uses formal procedural vocabulary; consumer-facing versions need plain Mongolian. Medical for clinicians keeps Greek/Latin transliterations; for patients it switches to common terms.

Word choice: short forms and everyday words¶

Words and phrases to avoid in modern Mongolian¶

Sample translations: addressing the user to take action¶

Promoting a feature¶

Providing how-to guidelines¶

Explanatory text and support¶

Language-specific standards¶

Country/region standards¶

Phone number formats (Mongolia):

Sorting order¶

• Capital and lowercase letters are equal.
• Ignore dash (-) in human/proper names.
• Non-alphabetical characters (@ ! #) sort after letters of the alphabet.
• Digits sort before non-alphabetical characters and after letters of the alphabet.

Character sorting order (Mongolian Cyrillic): А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й, К, Л, М, Н, О, Ө, П, Р, С, Т, У, Ү, Ф, Х, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ъ, Ы, Ь, Э, Ю, Я.

Note the Mongolian-specific letters Ө (after О) and Ү (after У).

Example sorted words: авир, Алтан товч, багана, дээл, ном, өмнөд, сураг ажиг, туяа, Янжмаа, яргуй.

Measurement units¶

Linear measure:

Capacity:

Mass:

English units:

Abbreviations¶

Don’t abbreviate words arbitrarily; use only commonly accepted abbreviations.

Acronyms¶

Most acronyms left unlocalized in Mongolian.

Localized acronyms: some measurement units localized.

Unlocalized acronyms. Acronyms without established translation used as-is in English. Add ending with en-dash before: RAM-д хадгалагдсан мэдээллүүд. Use a descriptor word (usually the main word from translation) for declination, or neutral constructions. Descriptors can be omitted if length restricts (UI) or sounds awkward — keep when grammatical form needs disambiguation.

Adjectives¶

Adjectives commonly used as modifier of a noun; can be used alone (with omitted nouns) or with verbs. Placement: attributively and predicatively. Comparison degrees apply.

Possessive adjectives. Frequent use of possessives is feature of English. In Mongolian, can be omitted for fluency unless ownership is important.

Capitalization¶

Capitalize sparingly. Capitalize only when you have to.

What to capitalize:

• Names of UI elements (commands, menus, dialog box titles), program names. Only the first word capitalized: Зураг оруулах.
• UI element names always enclosed in quotes: “Засварлах” цэс, “Зураг оруулах” харилцах цонх.
• Acronyms.
• Proper names.
• Product/technology names.
• Several names where all words capitalized: country/state names (Оросын Холбооны Улс, америкийн Нэгдсэн Улс), international organization names (Нэгдсэн Үндэстний Байгууллага, Дэлхийн Банк).
• First letter of abbreviated form of days.
• The word “Internet” IS capitalized in Mongolian.

Do not capitalize:

• Language names and nationalities unless at beginning of sentence/list: монгол хэл, итали хэл, герман, франц.
• The word “web.”

Conjunctions¶

Conjunctions help convey conversational tone. In Mongolian modern language, conjunctions are very important and need careful use. Less difference between classic and modern, but good to have various modern conjunctions within complex sentences. Avoid extra conjunction usage.

Localizing colloquialisms, idioms, and metaphors¶

• Don’t replace source colloquialism with Mongolian unless perfect fit.
• Translate intended meaning, only if integral.
• If omittable without affecting meaning, omit.

Nouns¶

Inflection. Inflected with suffixes per vowel harmony rule. Mongolian is agglutinative — nouns may inflect with several suffixes; stem may also change.

Example: мэдээлэл → мэдээллээс (“from the information”).

Plural formation. Plural suffixes (-с, -ууд, -үүд, -чууд, -чүүд) added per vowel harmony. Avoid unnecessary plural use. Don’t use plural after “some/many/all/different” (зарим, олон, бүх, янз бүрийн) which already mean more than one. Don’t use plural nouns with numbers.

Singular usage in English doesn’t require same usage in translation. Singular is preferred.

Pronouns¶

Avoid forms таны, танд, etc. In English “you/your” is used more often than in Mongolian. Try to avoid these whenever possible. Use neutral structures and passive voice.

When “you/your” is necessary to indicate direction, use it:

Modern voice prefers personal pronouns over indirect “user”:

Punctuation¶

All punctuation marks should be written with no spaces before them, with only one space after applicable marks (commas, periods, colons).

Bulleted lists. Visually emphasize information; use semicolons if sentence is complete.

Comma. Use lowercase after a comma unless the following word needs to be capitalized. With very few exceptions, do not use a comma after conjunctions ба, бөгөөд, эсвэл, буюу, болон.

Example: - (-) Илгээгчийн э-шуудан хаяг нь .ca, .mx, болон .us г.м өндөр-түвшний домэйн кодуудаар төгссөн байж болно. (incorrect — comma before болон)

Sentence fragments¶

Sentence fragments help convey conversational tone — short and to the point.

Symbols & non-breaking spaces¶

Use non-breaking space (CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR) where appropriate.

Verbs¶

Use simple tenses. Simple present is default. Avoid future tense unless describing something that will really happen.

Localization considerations¶

Accessibility¶

General accessibility info: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/.

Applications, products, and features¶

Application/product names often trademarked, rarely translated. Version numbers always contain a period (Version 4.2).

Trademarks¶

Trademarked names and “Microsoft Corporation” shouldn’t be localized unless local laws require translation.

Error messages¶

Apply modern voice principles to ensure target is natural, empathetic, not robot-like.

Standard phrases:

Placeholders. %d, %ld, %u, %lu = number; %c = letter; %s = string. Find out what will replace the placeholder so sentence is grammatically correct (especially with vowel harmony for suffixes).

Keys¶

Names of keys on the keyboard should not be translated.

Voice/video pronunciation¶

English terms left unlocalized pronounced the English way. Common terms with established Mongolian pronunciation use local one.

FAQ¶

What’s the right register for modern Mongolian translation across professional contexts?¶

Warm, clear, conversational register — close to spoken Mongolian for consumer-facing content. Replace classic/formal forms (зорилгод хүрэх → хийх, удаах → дараах, чадахгүй → боломжгүй байх, дэмжигдэх → нийцэх, нэмж хэлэхэд → түүнчлэн, шаардах → хэрэгтэй байх, лавлах → үзэх, өгөгдсөн хугацаанд → одоо) with modern equivalents.

How does Mongolian vowel harmony work in inflection?¶

Mongolian is agglutinative with vowel harmony. Suffixes match the vowel class of the stem (back, front, or neutral vowels). Word stems can change during inflection (мэдээлэл → мэдээллээс for ‘from the information’). Plural suffixes (-с, -ууд, -үүд, -чууд, -чүүд) are selected per vowel harmony rule.

How should I handle ‘you’ (та/таны/танд) in Mongolian translation?¶

Avoid overuse. English uses ‘you/your’ more than Mongolian. Use neutral structures and passive voice instead. Only use та/таны/танд when necessary to indicate direction (Та шинэ уулзалтанд холбогдох гэж байна). For UI commands like ‘Set Up Your Device’, use Төхөөрөмжөө тохируулах (no second-person pronoun needed).

What are the Mongolian capitalization rules?¶

Capitalize sparingly. Only: first word of UI elements (Зураг оруулах), proper names, acronyms, products. All words capitalized for country names (Оросын Холбооны Улс), international organizations (Нэгдсэн Үндэстний Байгууллага). Don’t capitalize: language names (монгол хэл), ‘web,’ seasons. ‘Internet’ IS capitalized. Days/months in abbreviated form: first letter capital.

Which Mongolian language references should I consult?¶

Орчин цагийн монгол хэл (Mongolian State University of Education, 2004); Б.Пүрэв-Очир Орчин цагийн монгол хэлний өгүүлбэр зүй; Ц.Өнөрбаян Орчин цагийн монгол хэлний үг зүй; Я.Цэвэл — Монгол хэлний товч тайлбар толь; Ц.Дамдинсүрэн, Б.Осор — Монгол үсгийн дүрмийн толь (1983); Монсудар publishing dictionaries (monsudar.one.mn).

How do Mongolian acronyms handle inflection?¶

Acronyms without established translation are kept as-is in English. To add case endings, use en-dash before the suffix: RAM-д хадгалагдсан мэдээллүүд (“information stored in RAM”). When using in text normally, use a descriptor word (usually the main word from the translation) to provide for declination, or otherwise use neutral constructions. Descriptors can be omitted if length restricts (UI) or sounds awkward — keep when grammatical form needs disambiguation.

How should I handle plural in Mongolian?¶

Plural suffixes (-с, -ууд, -үүд, -чууд, -чүүд) are added per vowel harmony. Avoid unnecessary plural use — don’t use plural after “some/many/all/different” (зарим, олон, бүх, янз бүрийн); don’t use plural nouns with numbers (use сүүлийн 3 зүйл, not сүүлийн 3 зүйлүүд). Singular usage in English doesn’t require same usage in translation — singular is preferred (Хэрэглэгч энэ өгүүлбэрийг устгаж болно, not Хэрэглэгчид).

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guide for Mongolian (Cyrillic) (PDF)
• Microsoft Globalization Style Guides hub
• Mongolian language on Wikipedia
• Монсудар publishing