“Closing the barn door after the horse is gone” in Korean

소 잃고 외양간 고친다

so ilko oeyanggan gochinda

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

Meaning

Closing the barn door after the horse is gone.

Literally “fixing the barn after losing the cow.” A warning that acting only after trouble has happened is too late.

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

Syllables: 9 · 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
소	ㅅ+ㅗ	so
잃고
잃	ㅇ+ㅣ+ㅀ	[일] il
고	ㄱ+ㅗ	[코] ko
외양간
외	ㅇ+ㅚ	oe
양	ㅇ+ㅑ+ㅇ	yang
간	ㄱ+ㅏ+ㄴ	gan
고친다
고	ㄱ+ㅗ	go
친	ㅊ+ㅣ+ㄴ	chin
다	ㄷ+ㅏ	da

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

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.

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

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
잃다	verb	to lose	TOPIK level 4

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Question 1 What does “소 잃고 외양간 고친다” mean?

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Answer: Closing the barn door after the horse is gone

Question 2 How do you say “Closing the barn door after the horse is gone” in Korean?

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Answer: 소 잃고 외양간 고친다 so ilko oeyanggan gochinda

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입이 무겁다To be good at keeping secrets
아니 땐 굴뚝에 연기 날까There’s no smoke without fire
귀가 얇다To be easily swayed by others
낮말은 새가 듣고 밤말은 쥐가 듣는다Walls have ears. (Birds hear what you say by day, and mice by night.)
눈이 높다To have high standards
호랑이도 제 말 하면 온다Speak of the devil