A tongue twister is a sentence that is hard to say quickly because it repeats similar sounds: She sells seashells by the seashore. Children love them because they are funny, and teachers use them because they train the mouth to make each English sound clearly. This lesson groups 40 tongue twisters by the sound they practise, from easy ones for kids to hard ones for older students and adults, and shows how to practise them.

How to Practise a Tongue Twister

4 Steps

1. Read it slowly and make sure you know every word.
2. Say it slowly three times, pronouncing every sound fully.
3. Speed up a little each time, but stop speeding up when you start making mistakes.
4. Say it three times in a row without a mistake. That is when you have mastered it.

Clear speech matters more than speed. A tongue twister said slowly and correctly does more for your pronunciation than one rushed and mumbled.

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Easy Tongue Twisters for Kids

  1. Red lorry, yellow lorry.
  2. Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
  3. Fresh fried fish, fish fresh fried.
  4. Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat.
  5. A big black bug bit a big black bear.
  6. Black background, brown background.
  7. Four fine fresh fish for you.
  8. Green glass globes glow greenly.

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S and SH: She Sells Seashells

  1. She sells seashells by the seashore.
  2. Sheena leads, Sheila needs.
  3. Six sticky skeletons.
  4. Silly Sally swiftly shooed seven silly sheep.
  5. Sure, the ship’s shipshape, sir.
  6. The sixth sick sheikh’s sixth sheep’s sick.

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V and W: Very Well, Very Wet

Many Indian speakers use one sound for both v and w. For v, touch your top teeth to your lower lip; for w, round your lips without touching your teeth.

  1. Very well, very wet, very windy weather.
  2. Vincent vowed vengeance very vehemently.
  3. Which witch is which?
  4. We were away a year ago.
  5. Violet’s van went west on Wednesday.
  6. Willy’s real rear wheel.

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TH: Thirty-Three Thousand

For th, put the tip of your tongue lightly between your teeth and blow. It is not a t or a d.

  1. Thirty-three thousand people think that Thursday is their thirtieth birthday.
  2. The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
  3. This thing, that thing, these things, those things.
  4. Three free throws.
  5. I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought.

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R and L: Red Leather, Yellow Leather

  1. Red leather, yellow leather.
  2. Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
  3. Rolling red wagons.
  4. Larry sent the latter a letter later.
  5. Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.

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P, B and F: Peter Piper

  1. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
  2. Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter’s bitter.
  3. Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
  4. Bad money, mad bunny.
  5. Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.

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Hard Tongue Twisters (Challenge)

  1. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
  2. I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop.
  3. Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
  4. Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
  5. The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes.
Tip

Record yourself on your phone saying one twister three times, listen once, and try again. For the sounds that Indian speakers find hardest (v/w, th, z, and long and short vowels), read how to reduce mother tongue influence on pronunciation.

✍️ Quick Practice — Which Sound?

Which sound does each tongue twister practise?

  1. Which witch is which?
  2. Three free throws.
  3. Red leather, yellow leather.
  4. She sells seashells by the seashore.
Show answers

Answers: 1. w (and wh)  |  2. th and r  |  3. r and l  |  4. s and sh

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