Tongue twisters in English are free speaking tools you can use at any time to improve your English pronunciation.
Think about it.
Tongue twisters challenge you to make similar sounds one after the other. They force you to say sounds that may be challenging for you. They can also show you which sounds you should practise more.
Most of all, tongue twisters in English are fun! I’ve selected just over 50 tongue twisters in English for you.
For each one, I’ll tell you which sound they help you with. I’ll give you the level of difficulty too (easy, medium, or challenging).
If there are any tricky words (which happens a lot in tongue twisters in English), I’ll explain what they mean. I’ll also give you some specific pronunciation tips for some of these and some more general ones at the end.
Get your tongue ready.
Let’s go!
Sounds
/s/ and /ʃ/ – Spanish speakers and many international speakers of English have trouble with these two sounds.
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /s/ sound, smile and let the air flow out over your tongue. For the /ʃ/ bring your lips slightly forward. This should make your tongue move forward too. Let the air flow out while the sides of your tongue touch your lower teeth.
Sounds
/s/, /tʃ/, and /ʃ/
Difficulty: Easy
Pronunciation tip
To make the /ʧ/ sound, press the tip of your tongue against the back of your top teeth and the sides against your upper side teeth. Briefly stop the air and then release it.
Sounds
/k/ and consonant cluster /kl/ (a consonant cluster is a group of consonant sounds)
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /k/ sound, place the back of your tongue against the soft part of the roof of your mouth. Draw air from your lungs to your mouth. You should feel that the air is blocked by your tongue. Release the air by lowering your tongue. This creates a little explosion of air (the /k/ sound).
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
Sounds
Consonant cluster /sk/ and /st/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
This tongue twister doesn’t make much sense, so don’t worry too much about what it means.
Pronunciation tip
Can you say this as fast as you can?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Sounds
/tʃ/ and /w/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /w/ sound, bring your lips forward as if you wanted to whistle. Then let the air flow out while keeping your lips rounded.
Sounds
/tʃ/ and /w/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
Don’t pronounce the “t” in “witch” – it’s silent! So “witch” and “which” are pronounced exactly in the same way. We call these homophones: two (or more) words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling.
Sounds
/b/, consonant cluster /bl/, and the vowel sound /æ/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /b/ sound, draw air from your lungs and stop it with your lips. Then release it adding your voice.
The /æ/ sound may be tricky too. This is a sound that sits between the /e/ sound, the one you find in the word “pet” /pet/, and the /ʌ/ sound, the one you find in the word “cut” /kʌt/.
The secret to making the /æ/ sound is to lower your jaw just enough to avoid making the /e/ sound. If you lower it too much you’ll produce the /ʌ/ sound. Find a sweet spot in the middle.
Sounds
/n/ and /ai/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
Make the /n/ sound by pressing the tip of your tongue against your upper front teeth. Allow the air to flow out through your nose while keeping your mouth closed. To check if you’re making this sound correctly, pinch your nose. If you hear nothing, you’re doing great!
Sounds
/k/ and /tʃ/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky vocabulary
Sounds
The infamous “th” /θ/ sound the whole world struggles with.
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
Put your tongue between your teeth. Don’t stick it out too much. That’s the secret to making the “th” sound.
Sounds
/b/ and /æ/
Difficulty: Easy
Sounds
Consonant cluster /skr/ and long vowel sound /iː/
Difficulty: Easy
Sounds
/tʃ/ and /ʃ/
Difficulty: Medium
Pronunciation tip
The position of your lips and jaw is the same when pronouncing the sounds /tʃ/ and /ʃ/. What makes these different is the quick little movement your tongue will make when pronouncing the /tʃ/ sound.
Sounds
/ʃ/, /s/, /iː/ and /i/
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
This is a great tongue twister for you if you have trouble differentiating the long vowel sounds /iː/ from the short /i/, and the consonant sound /ʃ/ from /s/. Practice saying this tongue twister slowly, trying to control the movement of your mouth and teeth as much as you can.
Sounds
The diphthong /eɪ/
Difficulty: Easy
Pronunciation tip
If you’re a Chinese speaker, you might find this tongue twister particularly challenging. Make sure you lower your jaw and then raise it back to make the two vowel sounds that form the diphthong.
This is actually longer. The full tongue twister is the following:
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Sounds
/p/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
Arabic speakers, remember that the /p/ sound is unvoiced. If you use your voice, you’ll make a /b/ sound.
Sounds
/f/ and consonant sounds /fr/
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /f/ sound, place your front teeth on your lips and blow. But don’t use your voice, otherwise the /f/ sound becomes an /v/ sound.
How much ground would a groundhog hog if a groundhog could hog ground?
Sounds
/g/
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /g/ sound, make the /k/ sound adding your voice. (I explained how to make a /k/ sound in tongue twister number 3.)
Sounds
/z/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /z/ sound, make the /s/ sound adding your voice.
Sounds
/s/ and /ʃ/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
Start slowly with this one. Once you’ve mastered it, see if you can say it as fast as you can.
Brisk brave brigadiers brandished broad bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons—balancing them badly
Sounds
/b/ and consonant cluster/br/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
This tongue twister includes some very infrequent vocabulary (I had to look up “blunderbusses” in the dictionary). Make sure you know how to pronounce these words before you try the whole tongue twister.
Sounds
/s/ and /w/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
Sounds
/l/ and /r/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
This tongue twister is particularly useful to you if you’re a Japanese speaker because you may have trouble differentiating between the sounds /l/ and /r/.
To make the /l/ sound open your mouth and put the tip of your tongue behind your top teeth. Then let air flow out the sides of your tongue. Add your voice and you should have the sound.
To make the /r/ sound, curl your tongue and touch the middle of your palate (the roof of your mouth) with it. Then let air flow out the sides.
This is long!
If one doctor doctors another doctor, does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does he doctor the doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?
Sounds
/d/ and /t/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
To make the /t/ sound, place your tongue on your front teeth, draw air from your lungs, and release the air by quickly pulling your tongue away. Don’t use your voice. To make the /d/ sound, make the same movements adding your voice.
Sounds
/f/ and consonant clusters /fl/ and /fr/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
Pronunciation tip
Don’t eat cookies while pronouncing this. Crumbs will fly out of your mouth!
Betty Botter bought some butter
But she said the butter’s bitter
If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter
But a bit of better butter will make my batter better
So ‘twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter
Sounds
/b/ and /t/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
One-One was a racehorse.
Two-Two was one, too.
When One-One won one race,
Two-Two won one, too.
Sounds
/w/
Difficulty: Medium
A tutor who tooted the flute
tried to tutor two tooters to toot.
Said the two to their tutor:
“Is it harder to toot,
Or to tutor two tooters to toot?”
Sounds
/t/ and /too/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky vocabulary
Sounds
/g/, /k/, and consonant cluster /gr/
Difficulty: Medium
Pronunciation tip
The sounds /g/ and /k/ are made in a similar way. The only difference between them is that /g/ is voiced while /k/ is unvoiced. So all you need to do to go from the final /k/ sound in “Greek” to the /g/ sound in grapes is to switch on your voice.
Sounds
/k/ and /p/
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky Vocabulary
This is the longer version of the one above.
All I want is a proper cup of coffee,
Made in a proper copper coffee pot
I may be off my dot
But I want a cup of coffee
From a proper coffee pot.
Tin coffee pots and iron coffee pots
They're no use to me –
If I can't have a proper cup of coffee
In a proper copper coffee pot
I'll have a cup of tea.
Sounds
/k/ and /p/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
Mr. See owned a saw.
And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw.
Now, See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw
Before Soar saw See,
Which made Soar sore.
Had Soar seen See's saw
Before See sawed Soar's seesaw,
See's saw would not have sawed
Soar's seesaw.
So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw.
But it was sad to see Soar so sore
just because See's saw sawed
Soar's seesaw.
Sounds
/s/ and two vowel sounds: /iː/and /ɔː/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
A tree-toad loved a she-toad
Who lived up in a tree.
He was a two-toed tree-toad,
But a three-toed toad was she.
The two-toed tree-toad tried to win
The three-toed she-toad's heart,
For the two-toed tree-toad loved the ground
That the three-toed tree-toad trod.
But the two-toed tree-toad tried in vain;
He couldn't please her whim.
From her tree-toad bower,
With her three-toed power,
The she-toad vetoed him.
Sounds
/th/, consonant cluster /tr/, and vowel sound /əʊ/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep.
The seven silly sheep Silly Sally shooed
Shilly-shallied south.
These sheep shouldn't sleep in a shack;
Sheep should sleep in a shed.
Sounds
/s/ and /ʃ/
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky Vocabulary
I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish,
but if you wish the wish the witch wishes,
I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.
Sounds
/w/ and /ʃ/
Difficulty: Medium
Pronunciation tip
I wish I had one for this one. I can only wish you good luck with it!
Sounds
/k/
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky Vocabulary
Denise sees the fleece,
Denise sees the fleas.
At least Denise could sneeze
and feed and freeze the fleas.
Sounds
/iː/ and /f/
Difficulty: Medium
Tricky Vocabulary
Pronunciation Tip
The secret to pronouncing the /iː/ sound correctly is to smile!
I saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop.
Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
Sounds
/s/ and /ʃ/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
Something in a thirty-acre thermal thicket of thorns and thistles thumped and thundered threatening the three-D thoughts of Matthew the thug – although, theatrically, it was only the thirteen-thousand thistles and thorns through the underneath of his thigh that the thirty-year-old thug thought of that morning.
Sounds
The “th” sound
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
Sounds
/k/ and the vowel sound /æ/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
There was a fisherman named Fisher
who fished for some fish in a fissure.
Till a fish with a grin,
pulled the fisherman in.
Now they're fishing the fissure for Fisher.
Sounds
/ʃ/ and /f/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
Sounds
/w/
Difficulty: Easy
Pronunciation tip
This may be an easy one. Challenge yourself by repeatedly saying it as fast as you can.
This is one of my favourites!
Hello?
Who's calling?
Watt.
What's your name?
Watt's my name.
Yes, what is your name?
My name is John Watt.
John what?
Yes.
… I'll call on you this afternoon.
All right, are you Jones?
No, I'm Knott.
Will you tell me your name, then?
Will Knott.
Why not?
My name is Knott.
Not what?
Not Watt. Knott.
What?
Sounds
/w/, /n/, and /ɒ/
Difficulty: Easy
Pronunciation tip
Practise this tongue twister with a partner.
Deer, deer, oh dear, oh dear,
your career as a deer is over here
no, no, oh no, although
your career as a skellytun's begun.
Sounds
/d/ and diphthong /ɪə/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky Vocabulary
Now the trees are all groaning in growling, rough gales
That with thuds and hoarse roaring roll raging around!
Such leaf-rousing, branch-ruining, ripping, raw wails,
Such a terrible, thrashing and tree-wrecking sound!
Sounds
/g/ and /r/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
The strong wind (the gale) has been personified in this tongue twister. Keep that in mind when reading the following definitions.
Grandma Gabby Grammer grabbed a gram of gummy goulash. If Grandma Gabby Grammer grabbed a gram of gummy goulash, how many grams of gummy goulash did Grandma Gabby Grammer grab?
Sounds
/g/ and consonant cluster /gr/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
The third time the three three-toed tree toads tried tying their toes together, the third three-toed tree toad tied the two three-toed tree toads toes to the third toads toes. Then the two tied three-toed tree toads told the third three-toed tree toad that tying their toes together thrilled them to their toe tips.
Sounds
/th/, consonant cluster /tr/, and vowel sound /əʊ/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
Check tongue twister 33 above. This is a variation of that one.
Super long one!
The Doge did what a Doge does, when a Doge does his duty to a Duke, that is. When the Doge did his duty and the Duke didn't, that's when the Duchess did the dirt to the Duke with the Doge. There they were in the dark: The Duke with his dagger, the Doge with his dart and the Duchess with her dirk. The Duchess dug at the Duke just when the Duke dove at the Doge. Now the Duke ducked, the Doge dodged, and the Duchess didn't. So the Duke got the Duchess, the Duchess got the Doge, and the Doge got the Duke.
Sounds
/d/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
Colliding, colt riding cowboys, combining colliding while gliding at night coinciding in their fight. It wasn't quite trite even with slight sight, who was right? The fight like light, flashed bright, fast as bears bite flies flying near the bears eyes the fleeing flies die.
Sounds
/k/, /f/, and diphthong /ai/
Difficulty: Challenging
Tricky Vocabulary
He thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.
This comes from Stephen King’s horror story It.
Sounds
/s/
Difficulty: Easy
Tricky Vocabulary
What are 10 popular tongue twisters?
1. She sells sea shells by the seashore
2. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
3. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
4. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
5. Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch
6. Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
7. She sees cheese
8. Which witch is which?
9. If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
10. Zebras zig and zebras zag
What are 5 tongue twisters in English?
1. She sells sea shells by the seashore
2. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
3. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
4. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
5. Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch
Here’s a quick list of tips:
And finally…have fun! Lots of fun! If you’re not having fun, stop what you’re doing and go do something fabulously fun!
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