Tongue twisters are fun, challenging phrases designed to test and improve your pronunciation, fluency, and speech clarity. They are made up of words with similar sounds, making them difficult to say quickly and correctly.
Whether you’re a language learner, a public speaker, or just looking for a fun way to test your speaking skills, tongue twisters can be a great tool. Many actors, news anchors, and even speech therapists use tongue twisters to warm up their vocal cords and improve diction.
In this post, we’ve compiled 100+ tongue twisters categorized by difficulty and theme, so you can challenge yourself and have fun while improving your speech!
Benefits of Practicing Tongue Twisters
Tongue twisters do more than just entertain—they offer a variety of benefits, including:
Improves Pronunciation and Diction
Repeating tongue twisters forces you to enunciate each word clearly, helping you pronounce tricky sounds more accurately. This is especially useful for non-native English speakers.
Enhances Fluency and Speaking Speed
By practicing tongue twisters regularly, you can train your mouth and tongue to move faster and more smoothly, making everyday speech more fluent.
Strengthens Tongue and Mouth Muscles
Speaking fast and clearly requires strong facial and tongue muscles. Tongue twisters act as an excellent vocal workout to improve your articulation.
Helps Non-Native Speakers Master Difficult Sounds
English has many tricky sounds that aren’t common in other languages. Practicing tongue twisters can help learners master pronunciation challenges, such as “th”, “r”, and “s” sounds.
Fun and Engaging Language Practice
Let’s be honest—practicing pronunciation can be boring. But tongue twisters turn it into an exciting challenge, making language learning more enjoyable and interactive!
How to Practice Tongue Twisters Effectively
Here are some proven techniques to make the most out of your tongue twister practice:
Start Slow and Focus on Accuracy
Begin by pronouncing each word slowly and clearly. Don’t worry about speed at first—accuracy is more important.
Repeat Multiple Times, Increasing Speed Gradually
Once you’re comfortable with a phrase, start repeating it faster while maintaining clarity.
Record Yourself and Listen for Mistakes
Listening to yourself helps identify words or sounds that need improvement. Try recording your speech and comparing it with a clear pronunciation.
Break Down Difficult Words and Syllables
If a tongue twister is too hard, break it into smaller parts. Practice each segment separately before saying the full phrase.
Challenge Yourself and Compete with Friends
Make it fun! Try saying the tongue twisters with friends or family. Who can say them the fastest without messing up?
100+ Tongue Twisters Categorized
1. Classic Tongue Twisters
- She sells seashells by the seashore.
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
- How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
- Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
- I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop.
- A proper copper coffee pot.
- I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.
- Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
- A big black bug bit a big black bear.
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter’s bitter…
2. Short & Simple Tongue Twisters
- Red lorry, yellow lorry.
- Unique New York.
- Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat.
- Six sticky skeletons.
- Thin sticks, thick bricks.
- Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
- Fresh fried fish.
- Shy sheep should sleep in a shed.
- Greek grapes.
- Black back bat.
3. Long & Challenging Tongue Twisters
- I thought a thought, but the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought.
- If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
- Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
- A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
- A tutor who tooted the flute tried to teach two young tooters to toot.
- We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
- You know New York, you need New York, you know you need unique New York.
- He threw three free throws.
- Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
- The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
4. Animal-Themed Tongue Twisters
- A big black bear sat on a big black rug.
- Five furious foxes fought for food.
- A happy hippo hopped hastily.
- Three grey geese in the green grass grazing.
- Red rats running round and round.
- Two tiny tigers take two taxis to town.
- Green glass grasshoppers grip great green grapes.
- Many mice make mighty music.
- Four fluffy foxes flying fast.
- The big black bat bit the big black bug.
5. Food-Related Tongue Twisters
- Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
- I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
- A proper cup of coffee in a copper coffee pot.
- Fresh fried fish fillet.
- Betty’s big banana bites are better.
- Bake big batches of bitter brown bread.
- Cheddar cheese chews cheerfully.
- Pink pickled peaches on a purple plate.
- Eating eleven elegant eggs every evening.
- The hungry hippo hurried home for honey ham.
6. Number & Letter Tongue Twisters
- Six thick thistle sticks.
- Eleven benevolent elephants.
- Four furious friends fought for the phone.
- Five fat frogs feeling fancy.
- Seven slippery snails slid southward.
- Sixty-six slippery snails sailed south.
- Three free throws.
- Nine nimble noblemen nimbly named ninety-nine novels.
- Five fresh fish for four fine friends.
- Forty furious foxes found four fresh figs.
7. Funny & Silly Tongue Twisters
- A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
- If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
- A noisy noise annoys an oyster.
- Friendly fleas and fiery flies.
- Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
- If practice makes perfect and perfect needs practice, I’m perfectly practicing practically perfect.
- A happy hippo hopped hastily home.
- A big black bug bit a big black dog on his big black nose.
- A flea and a fly flew up in a flue, said the flea “let us fly”, said the fly “let us flee”.
- I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch.
8. ‘S’ Sound Tongue Twisters
- Silly sheep sip sweet soup.
- Susie works in a shoeshine shop.
- Sally sold sea shells by the seashore.
- Six slimy snails slid slowly south.
- Six slippery snakes slithered south.
- Six small snails sailed slowly southward.
- A sailor went to sea to see what he could see, and all he could see was sea, sea, sea.
- Some shun sunshine. Shouldn’t sunshine shun some?
- The sun shines on shop signs.
- Six slippery snails snuck slowly south.
9. ‘R’ Sound Tongue Twisters
- Rory’s rural brewery brews really refreshing root beer.
- Red roses rust rapidly.
- Roaring racecars rushing rapidly round the road.
- Rolling red wagons rolling really rapidly.
- Ripe white wheat reapers reap ripe white wheat.
- Robert ran rings around the Roman ruins.
- The rat ran up the riverbank rapidly.
- Ruddy rubber baby buggy bumpers.
- Reading rapidly repeats rustling rhymes.
- Roger ran round and round the rugged rock.
10. ‘P’ Sound Tongue Twisters
- Pretty pink pajamas.
- Paddy poked a pirate’s pink parrot.
- Please pay promptly for the pretty pink petunias.
- Purple paper people, purple paper people.
- Plump pink piglets play peacefully.
- Picky people pick Peter Pan peanut butter.
- Peggy Babcock picked pears perfectly.
- Polly planted plenty of pretty pansies.
- Peter’s puppy played in the park.
- Pat the panda painted the purple palace.