KOREAN LEVEL UP › Korean phrases › Proverbs & idioms › 고생 끝에 낙이 온다

How to Say “After hardship comes happiness” in Korean

고생 끝에 낙이 온다

gosaeng kkeute nagi onda

Situation: Proverbs & idiomsLevel: Beginner (TOPIK 1–2)

Meaning

After hardship comes happiness.

Usage note

Literally “at the end of hardship, comfort comes.” It encourages someone who is struggling now to keep going, since good things follow. 끝에 is pronounced [끄테].

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

How to pronounce it

Syllables: 8 · Words: 4

In natural speech, sounds link and shift across words. The table below reads each word separately, as it sounds when said on its own.

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
고생
고	ㄱ+ㅗ	go
생	ㅅ+ㅐ+ㅇ	saeng
끝에
끝	ㄲ+ㅡ+ㅌ	[끄] kkeu
에	ㅇ+ㅔ	[테] te
낙이
낙	ㄴ+ㅏ+ㄱ	[나] na
이	ㅇ+ㅣ	[기] gi
온다
온	ㅇ+ㅗ+ㄴ	on
다	ㄷ+ㅏ	da

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Sound changes in this phrase

Linking: when a syllable ending in a consonant (patchim) is followed by a syllable that starts with a vowel, the consonant moves over to the next syllable. 끝에 → [끄테]