100+ Popular & Fun English Tongue Twisters to Help Your Pronunciation

Are you looking for a twisty, wordy challenge to help improve your English pronunciation? You’ve come to the right place. Tongue twisters are great tools for kids and adults alike who are practicing English, since they rely on alliteration and proper pronunciation. Reciting tongue twisters can also be a great way to warm up if you're preparing for a speech or performance! Read on for an extensive collection of English tongue twisters, from the easy to the truly mind-boggling.

English Tongue Twisters at a Glance

Popular: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Short and easy: We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
Intermediate: A loyal warrior will rarely worry why we rule.
Hard: Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.

Section 1 of 8:

Popular & Famous Tongue Twisters

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These tongue twisters are among the ones most native English speakers have heard before, so they’re great for practicing pronunciation. They’re also silly, fun, and definitely well-known! Take a look at some of the most famous English tongue twisters:^{[1]
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- Put up the shutters and sit in the shop.
- She sells seashells by the seashore.
- Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear. Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
- 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."

Section 2 of 8:

Funny Tongue Twisters

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Challenge yourself (or your friends) to pronounce these tongue twisters correctly and get a laugh at the same time! Most tongue twisters are whimsical-sounding, but some are downright silly. And, if you’re trying to improve your English pronunciation, using funny tongue twisters can make the activity more enjoyable.
- Near an ear, a nearer ear, a nearly eerie ear.
- Thirty-three thousand feathers on a thrush's throat.
- Selfish shellfish.
- Roberta ran rings around the Roman ruins.
- If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
- A happy hippo hopped and hiccupped.
- Top chopstick shops stock top chopsticks.
- How many yaks could a yak pack pack if a yak pack could pack yaks?
- Billy Bob blabbered boldly.
- The great Greek grape growers grow great Greek grapes.
- Snap, crackle, pop.
- A big black bug bit a big black bear.
- How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
- No need to light a night-light on a light night like tonight.

Section 3 of 8:

Short Tongue Twisters

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Short tongue twisters tend to be a bit easier to say (since there are fewer words to get through). But, if you’re trying to challenge yourself on pronunciation, you can always see how many times you can say these short tongue twisters in a row—and try to do better than your friends.^{[3]
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- Eddie edited it.
- Sheena leads, Sheila needs.
- Toy boat. Toy boat. Toy boat. (Keep repeating)
- He threw three free throws.
- Smelly shoes and socks shock sisters.
- A shapeless sash sags slowly.
- Tie twine to three tree twigs.
- Kitty caught the kitten in the kitchen.
- Linda-Lou Lambert loves lemon lollipop lip gloss.
- Eleven benevolent elephants.
- I wish to wash my Irish wristwatch.
- Pick six beaks, seek big peaks.
- Betty loves the velvet vest best.
- Ten tall trees.
- Blue blob, black blob.
- Quaint quails quietly quiver and quake.
- Four furious friends fought for the phone.

Section 4 of 8:

Long Tongue Twisters

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Long tongue twisters are certainly a mouthful! There’s no need to repeat them five times fast—once is all you need for a challenge. See how quickly (and accurately) you can pronounce these lengthy tongue twisters.
- 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.
- To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock, awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock, from a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
- 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.
- One-one was a racehorse. Two-two was one, too. One-one won one race. Two-two won one, too.
- Luke's duck likes lakes. Luke Luck licks lakes. Luke's duck licks lakes. Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes.
- Of all the felt I ever felt, I never felt a piece of felt which felt as fine as that felt felt, when first I felt that felt hat’s felt.
- 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?
- 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.
- I’m a mother pheasant plucker, I pluck mother pheasants. I’m the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker to ever pluck a mother pheasant. I’m not the pheasant plucker, I’m the pheasant plucker’s wife; I’ve been plucking mother pheasants my whole pheasant plucking life. I’m not the pheasant plucker, I’m the pheasant plucker’s mate; I’m only plucking pheasants ’cause the pheasant plucker’s late.
- When a doctor doctors a doctor, does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as the doctor being doctored wants to be doctored or does the doctor doing the doctoring doctor as he wants to doctor?

Section 5 of 8:

Easy Tongue Twisters

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Easier tongue twisters are usually shorter, but they’re also more rhythmic, with words that are simpler to pronounce quickly and memorize. They’re great for kids—and since it’s natural to start with an easier challenge before moving on to the harder ones, take a look at these easy (but still whimsical) English tongue twisters.^{[4]
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- A noisy noise annoys an oyster.
- I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
- He threw three balls.
- We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
- Zebras zig and zebras zag.
- Six sticky skeletons.
- A flea and a fly flew up in a flue.
- Double bubble gum bubbles double.
- Green glass globes glow greenly.
- Cooks cook cupcakes quickly.
- Red lorry, yellow lorry. (Keep repeating)
- Pre-shrunk silk shirts.
- An ape hates grape cakes.
- A proper copper coffee pot.

Section 6 of 8:

Intermediate Tongue Twisters

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These tongue twisters are middle-of-the-road: not the easiest to pronounce, but not the most difficult. You’ll find similar sounds placed closer together in each phrase (and repeated more often), making them a step up from the easiest tongue twisters.
- Frivolously fanciful Fannie fried fresh fish furiously.
- Give papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup.
- Wayne went to Wales to watch walruses.
- I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit.
- A pessimistic pest exists amidst us.
- Six Czech cricket critics.
- If you notice this notice, you will notice that this notice is not worth noticing.
- A loyal warrior will rarely worry why we rule.
- Black background, brown background.
- If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
- Fresh French fried fly fritters.
- Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
- Six sleek swans swam swiftly southwards.
- Six sick hicks nick six slick bricks with picks and sticks.

Section 7 of 8:

Hard Tongue Twisters

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While there’s no definitive consensus on the “hardest tongue twister ever,” there are certainly English tongue twisters that are way harder than others to pronounce. If you’re looking for the greatest challenge possible, look no further: these are some of the most difficult mind-bending (and mouth-bending) tongue twisters around.^{[5]
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- Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
- Crouching cautiously, Carmen collected curious crickets.
- Brisk, brave brigadiers brandished broad, bright blades, blunderbusses, and bludgeons, balancing them badly.
- How much caramel can a canny cannonball cram in a camel if a canny cannonball can cram caramel in a camel?
- Violet vixens viciously vow to vex the vexation in Valencia.
- The seething sea ceaseth, and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.
- Pad kid poured curd-pulled cod.
- Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager managing an imaginary menagerie.
- Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
- Send toast to ten tense stout saints’ ten tall tents.
- The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.
- Six shy shysters, shyly shy six shy oysters.
- Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.
- Dandy dandelions are decidedly delicious.

Section 8 of 8:

Tongue Twister Sentences

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Not all tongue twisters are playful phrases—some are complete playful sentences! Although they may be a little trickier to pronounce than a quick phrase, see if you can say any of these tongue-twister sentences:
- Betty bought butter, but the butter was bitter, so Betty bought better butter to make the bitter butter better.
- A synonym for cinnamon is a cinnamon synonym.
- Susie works in a shoeshine shop. Where she shines, she sits, and where she sits, she shines.
- 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.
- I thought a thought. But the thought I thought wasn’t the thought I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought I thought, I wouldn’t have thought I thought.
- A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk.
- To begin to toboggan first buy a toboggan, but don't buy too big a toboggan. Too big a toboggan is too big a toboggan to buy to begin to toboggan.
- “Surely Sylvia swims!” shrieked Sammy, surprised. “Someone should show Sylvia some strokes so she shall not sink.”
- If you must cross a coarse cross cow across a crowded cow crossing, cross the cross coarse cow across the crowded cow crossing carefully.
- She stood on the balcony, inexplicably mimicking him hiccupping and amicably welcoming him in.
- If practice makes perfect and perfect needs practice, I’m perfectly practiced and practically perfect.
- You know New York, you need New York, you know you need unique New York.
- Giddy goats gobbled up gooseberries, getting good at gobbling green grapes.

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Read out loud. You can hear yourself say each word and practice pronouncing it as you read. You can also listen for pronunciation issues (and the words you're saying right).^{[6]
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Talk slowly. As you talk to people (or read out loud), try speaking more slowly so you can feel the shape your mouth makes as you make each sound, and correct yourself if needed.^{[7]
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Record yourself speaking. Then, review each video or audio recording. This can help you further pinpoint any mistakes and fix them.^{[8]
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