KOREAN LEVEL UP › Korean phrases › Proverbs & idioms › 하룻강아지 범 무서운 줄 모른다

“A young pup doesn’t know enough…” in Korean

하룻강아지 범 무서운 줄 모른다

harutgangaji beom museoun jul moreunda

Situation: Proverbs & idiomsLevel: Advanced (TOPIK 5–6)

Meaning

A young pup doesn’t know enough to fear the tiger.

Literally “a one-day-old puppy doesn’t know to fear a tiger.” It describes inexperienced youth rushing in recklessly.

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

Syllables: 13 · Words: 5

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
하룻강아지
하	ㅎ+ㅏ	ha
룻	ㄹ+ㅜ+ㅅ	[룯] rut
강	ㄱ+ㅏ+ㅇ	[깡] gang
아	ㅇ+ㅏ	a
지	ㅈ+ㅣ	ji
범	ㅂ+ㅓ+ㅁ	beom
무서운
무	ㅁ+ㅜ	mu
서	ㅅ+ㅓ	seo
운	ㅇ+ㅜ+ㄴ	un
줄	ㅈ+ㅜ+ㄹ	jul
모른다
모	ㅁ+ㅗ	mo
른	ㄹ+ㅡ+ㄴ	reun
다	ㄷ+ㅏ	da

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

Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 룻강 → [룯깡]

Style: Plain form (-다)Sentence type: Statement or set phrase

Ends in -다. Common in proverbs, writing and the news, but not how you normally speak to the person in front of you.

낫 놓고 기역 자도 모른다Can’t even recognize the letter ㄱ with a sickle in hand. (Totally illiterate.)

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Question 1 What does “하룻강아지 범 무서운 줄 모른다” mean?

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Answer: A young pup doesn’t know enough to fear the tiger

Question 2 How do you say “A young pup doesn’t know enough to fear the tiger” in Korean?

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Answer: 하룻강아지 범 무서운 줄 모른다 harutgangaji beom museoun jul moreunda

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