“As hard as picking a star from the sky” in Korean

하늘의 별 따기

haneurui byeol ttagi

Situation: Proverbs & idiomsLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

As hard as picking a star from the sky.

Literally “picking a star from the sky.” It describes something nearly impossible, such as getting tickets to a hugely popular event.

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

Syllables: 6 · Words: 3

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
하늘의
하	ㅎ+ㅏ	ha
늘	ㄴ+ㅡ+ㄹ	neul
의	ㅇ+ㅢ	ui
별	ㅂ+ㅕ+ㄹ	byeol
따기
따	ㄸ+ㅏ	tta
기	ㄱ+ㅣ	gi

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

Style: Set expressionSentence type: Statement or set phrase

There is no verb ending, so the phrase has no politeness level of its own: it is a short fixed expression or a noun phrase.

These words from the TOPIK vocabulary lists appear in the phrase (shown in dictionary form).

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
하늘	noun	sky	TOPIK level 1

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Question 1 What does “하늘의 별 따기” mean?

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Answer: As hard as picking a star from the sky

Question 2 How do you say “As hard as picking a star from the sky” in Korean?

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Answer: 하늘의 별 따기 haneurui byeol ttagi

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