R and L tongue twisters
R and L are both made with the tongue, but in different ways. L touches the ridge behind your top teeth; R doesn't touch anything. Switching between them quickly is a classic articulation challenge.
Practise these 23 twisters
Lily likes lemon rolls; Rory likes raisin rolls.
Easy · sounds: l, r · SceneDub original
Touch your tongue to the bump behind your top teeth for 'l', and pull it back without touching for 'r'.
Say it 3 times fast
Time three clean repetitions.
Clean repetitions
Aim for 5 in a row without a slip.
Record and listen back
How to practise
- For L, feel the tip of your tongue touch the ridge behind your top teeth.
- For R, pull the tongue back without touching the roof of your mouth and round your lips slightly.
- Practise the switch slowly (la-ra-la-ra) before the full twister.
All r and l tongue twisters, easiest first
- 1.
Lily likes lemon rolls; Rory likes raisin rolls.
Easy · sounds: l, r · SceneDub original
Touch your tongue to the bump behind your top teeth for 'l', and pull it back without touching for 'r'.
- 2.
Red lorry, yellow lorry.
Medium · sounds: r, l · traditional
Touch your tongue tip to the ridge behind your top teeth for each 'l', and pull it back without touching anything for each 'r'.
- 3.
Round and round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran.
Medium · sounds: r, g · traditional
Keep your tongue tip from touching the roof of your mouth on every 'r', and lift the back of the tongue firmly for the 'g' in rugged and ragged.
- 4.
Red leather, yellow leather.
Medium · sounds: r, l, th · traditional
Pull the tongue back for 'r', touch the gum ridge for 'l', and slide the tip forward to the teeth for the voiced 'th' in leather.
- 5.
Green glass globes glow greenly.
Medium · sounds: g, gr, gl · traditional
After each 'g', either pull the tongue back for 'r' or touch the gum ridge for 'l'; that quick switch is the whole challenge.
- 6.
Larry sent the latter a letter later.
Medium · sounds: l, t, r · traditional
The consonants in latter, letter, and later are nearly identical, so give each its own vowel: 'a' as in cat, 'e' as in bet, and 'ay' as in say.
- 7.
Lovely lemon liniment.
Medium · sounds: l, m, n · traditional
Lift your tongue tip to the gum ridge for every 'l' and 'n', and close your lips only for the 'm' sounds.
- 8.
Larry's lorry rolled left, but Rory's lorry rolled right.
Medium · sounds: l, r · SceneDub original
Start Larry and left with the tongue tip touching behind your top teeth, and Rory and right with the tip pulled back and free.
- 9.
Little Lola's red roller skates roll really loudly.
Medium · sounds: l, r · SceneDub original
Say roller slowly first, feeling your tongue move from the free 'r' to the touching 'l'.
- 10.
The royal lobster and the loyal lobster rolled a yellow lollipop.
Medium · sounds: r, l, y · SceneDub original
Royal and loyal differ only in their first sound, so start one with a pulled-back 'r' and the other with the tongue tip on the gum ridge.
- 11.
Flora's fresh flowers froze, flopped, and flourished.
Medium · sounds: fl, fr · SceneDub original
Keep the 'f' identical each time and change only the tongue: tip on the gum ridge for 'fl', pulled back for 'fr'.
- 12.
Glen's green glove grabbed Gran's glasses.
Medium · sounds: gl, gr, g · SceneDub original
After each 'g', touch the gum ridge for 'gl' and pull the tongue back for 'gr', keeping the 'g' itself short and voiced.
- 13.
Clara's crisp cloth crackles, crumples, and clings.
Medium · sounds: kl, kr, k · SceneDub original
Use the same back-of-tongue 'k' for every word and switch only what follows: tip up for 'cl', tip back for 'cr'.
- 14.
Proud Pru planted plump, prickly pears.
Medium · sounds: pr, pl, p · SceneDub original
Seal your lips fully for every 'p', then decide quickly whether the tongue touches the gum ridge for 'pl' or pulls back for 'pr'.
- 15.
Blake's brother blew bright blue bubbles.
Medium · sounds: bl, br, b · SceneDub original
Press your lips together for every 'b', then listen for the 'l' in Blake, blew, and blue against the 'r' in brother and bright.
- 16.
Truly rural.
Hard · sounds: r, l, tr · traditional
Say it slowly first: keep the tongue tip off the roof of your mouth for both 'r' sounds in rural, and touch the gum ridge only for the final 'l'.
- 17.
Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
Hard · sounds: r, w · traditional
Make each 'w' with strongly rounded lips and each 'r' with the tongue pulled back, so warrior, worrier, and were reared stay clear.
- 18.
Willy's real rear wheel.
Hard · sounds: w, r, l · traditional
End real and wheel with the tongue tip on the gum ridge, but keep it pulled back and touching nothing at the end of rear.
- 19.
Ripe white wheat reapers reap ripe white wheat right.
Hard · sounds: r, w, t · traditional
Round your lips strongly for the 'w' in white and wheat, and pull the tongue back for the 'r' in ripe, reap, and right, so the two never blur together.
- 20.
Literally literary.
Hard · sounds: l, r, t · traditional
Literally is lit-er-al-ly and literary is lit-er-ar-y, so the only change is an 'l' becoming an 'r' in the third syllable; keep that switch clean.
- 21.
The rural ruler rarely rules literally.
Hard · sounds: r, l · SceneDub original
Touch the gum ridge with your tongue tip only for the 'l' sounds, and keep it raised but untouched for every 'r' in rural, ruler, and rarely.
- 22.
Raleigh's railroad relied on rarely reliable railcars.
Hard · sounds: r, l · SceneDub original
Nearly every word slides from 'r' to 'l', so practice that move slowly in rail, then keep the same tongue path through the whole line.
- 23.
Earl's girl twirls her curls around a pearl.
Hard · sounds: rl, r, l · SceneDub original
In Earl's, girl, twirls, curls, and pearl, glide from the 'r' straight into the 'l' without adding an extra syllable, so girl stays one beat.
More tongue twister sets
Warmed up? Put it to work with a free voice acting script or dub a scene online.
Frequently asked questions
What's an easy r and l tongue twister to start with?
Try "Lily likes lemon rolls; Rory likes raisin rolls." Say it slowly three times before speeding up.
What's the hardest r and l tongue twister here?
"Truly rural." Say it slowly first: keep the tongue tip off the roof of your mouth for both 'r' sounds in rural, and touch the gum ridge only for the final 'l'.
How many times should I repeat a tongue twister?
Aim for five clean repetitions in a row at a comfortable speed, then three times fast. A few minutes a day is enough for a warm-up; stop if your jaw or voice feels strained.