How to Say “A piece of cake” in Korean: 식은 죽 먹기

식은 죽 먹기

sigeun juk meokgi

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

Meaning

A piece of cake.

Literally “eating cold porridge.” Since cold porridge is easy to eat, it means “very easy.”

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

Syllables: 5 · 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
식은
식	ㅅ+ㅣ+ㄱ	[시] si
은	ㅇ+ㅡ+ㄴ	[근] geun
죽	ㅈ+ㅜ+ㄱ	juk
먹기
먹	ㅁ+ㅓ+ㄱ	meok
기	ㄱ+ㅣ	[끼] gi

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

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

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.

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Question 1 What does “식은 죽 먹기” mean?

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Answer: A piece of cake

Question 2 How do you say “A piece of cake” in Korean?

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Answer: 식은 죽 먹기 sigeun juk meokgi

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