Short tongue twisters
Short doesn't mean easy. Most of these one-liners become nearly impossible on the third or fourth repetition, which makes them ideal speed drills.
Practise these 51 twisters
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
Easy · sounds: s, k, r · traditional
In 'I scream' the 's' starts the second word, while in 'ice cream' it ends the first, so the 'k' in cream gets a little puff of air.
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
- Repeat the twister five times without pausing between repetitions.
- Keep the volume and pace steady. Most people speed up and lose it on round three.
- Use the timer to beat your best clean time.
All short tongue twisters, easiest first
- 1.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.
Easy · sounds: s, k, r · traditional
In 'I scream' the 's' starts the second word, while in 'ice cream' it ends the first, so the 'k' in cream gets a little puff of air.
- 2.
Which witch is which?
Easy · sounds: w, ch · traditional
Round your lips for each 'w' and give each 'ch' a short, clean burst, keeping a steady rhythm since which and witch sound almost the same.
- 3.
Kitty caught the kitten in the kitchen.
Easy · sounds: k, t · traditional
Lift the back of your tongue for each 'k' and tap the tip for each 't', so kitty, kitten, and kitchen all stay crisp.
- 4.
Sheep should sleep in a shed.
Easy · sounds: sh, s, sl · traditional
Round your lips for the 'sh' in sheep, should, and shed, then relax them for the 's' in sleep.
- 5.
She sees cheese.
Easy · sounds: sh, s, ch, z · traditional
Make 'sh' a soft rush of air, 's' a thin hiss, and 'ch' a quick burst that starts with the tongue pressed to the roof of your mouth.
- 6.
The lips, the teeth, the tip of the tongue.
Easy · sounds: l, p, th, t · traditional
Exaggerate each place as you name it: lips together for 'p', tongue between the teeth for 'th', and tongue tip up for 't' and 'l'.
- 7.
How now, brown cow?
Easy · sounds: ow, n, br, k · traditional
Open your jaw wide at the start of each 'ow' and round your lips at the end, giving all four words the same full vowel.
- 8.
Shaun shushed six sleepy sheep.
Easy · sounds: sh, s · SceneDub original
Push your lips forward for the 'sh' in Shaun, shushed, and sheep, and smile slightly for the 's' in six and sleepy.
- 9.
This thumb thinks that thumb is thicker.
Easy · sounds: th · SceneDub original
Keep your voice buzzing for the 'th' in this and that, and switch it off for the 'th' in thumb, thinks, and thicker.
- 10.
Baby Bea picked a big purple berry.
Easy · sounds: b, p · SceneDub original
Pop your lips apart gently for each 'b' and with a little more air for each 'p' in picked and purple.
- 11.
Greg's cat gave Kate's goat a grape.
Easy · sounds: g, k, gr · SceneDub original
Both 'k' and 'g' are made with the back of your tongue; let 'k' out with a puff of air and turn your voice on for 'g'.
- 12.
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'.
- 13.
Unique New York, you know you need unique New York.
Medium · sounds: n, y, k · traditional
Finish the 'k' of unique cleanly before New, and let your jaw and lips move freely on every 'oo' vowel.
- 14.
Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat.
Medium · sounds: t, b · traditional
Close your lips fully for the 'b' and shape a clear 'oh' vowel in boat so it doesn't slide into 'boyt' as you speed up.
- 15.
Rubber baby buggy bumpers.
Medium · sounds: b, g, r · traditional
Press your lips together for every 'b', and lift the back of your tongue for the 'g' in buggy so it doesn't turn into 'bubby'.
- 16.
Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.
Medium · sounds: s, sl, sn · traditional
Hold a narrow 's' and move straight into the 'l' or 'n' without adding a vowel, so slippery never becomes 'suh-lippery'.
- 17.
Fred fed Ted bread, and Ted fed Fred bread.
Medium · sounds: f, fr, t, br, d · traditional
Keep the 'r' in Fred and bread but leave it out of fed and Ted, so all four words stay distinct.
- 18.
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.
- 19.
Three free throws.
Medium · sounds: th, f, r · traditional
Start three and throws with the tongue between the teeth and free with your top teeth on your lower lip, keeping the 'r' the same in all three.
- 20.
Gig whip, gig whip, gig whip.
Medium · sounds: g, w, p · traditional
Lift the back of your tongue twice for gig, then round your lips for whip and close them firmly on the final 'p'.
- 21.
Good blood, bad blood.
Medium · sounds: g, b, bl, d · traditional
Finish every 'd' fully before the next 'b' so good blood doesn't smear into 'goo blood'.
- 22.
Tie twine to three tree twigs.
Medium · sounds: t, tw, th, tr · traditional
Put your tongue between your teeth only for three, and keep it behind your teeth for tree, which otherwise sounds the same.
- 23.
Thin sticks, thick bricks.
Medium · sounds: th, st, k, br · traditional
Feel your tongue move from between the teeth for 'th' to behind them for 'st', and give the 'k' in sticks, thick, and bricks a crisp release.
- 24.
Selfish shellfish.
Medium · sounds: s, sh, l, f · traditional
Spread your lips for the 's' that starts selfish and round them for the 'sh' that starts shellfish, since both words end in the same '-fish'.
- 25.
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.
- 26.
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.
- 27.
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.
- 28.
A noisy noise annoys an oyster.
Medium · sounds: n, oy, z · traditional
Keep the 'z' in noisy, noise, and annoys buzzing with your voice on, and glide fully through each 'oy'.
- 29.
Aluminum, linoleum, aluminum, linoleum.
Medium · sounds: l, m, n · traditional
Stress a-LOO-mi-num and li-NO-lee-um clearly, letting the tongue tip handle every 'l' and 'n' while only the lips close for 'm'.
- 30.
Shy sheep chew cheap shoes.
Medium · sounds: sh, ch · SceneDub original
For 'ch' stop the air for an instant with your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and for 'sh' let it flow, so chew and shoes stay different.
- 31.
Tim thinks Tom taught Thad to think.
Medium · sounds: t, th · SceneDub original
Tap your tongue tip behind your teeth for 't' and slide it forward between your teeth for 'th', so thinks never becomes 'tinks'.
- 32.
Thick thatch, thin thatch.
Medium · sounds: th, ch · SceneDub original
Rest your tongue between your teeth for each 'th', then pull it back to press behind the gum ridge for the 'ch' at the end of thatch.
- 33.
Kirk's quirky gherkins.
Medium · sounds: k, kw, g · SceneDub original
Release a puff of air for the 'k' in Kirk's and quirky, then voice the 'g' in gherkins without moving your tongue from the same spot.
- 34.
Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch.
Hard · sounds: r, sh, s, ch · traditional
Say wrist and watch as two clear beats, moving from the 'st' straight into a rounded 'w' without slipping in an extra 'sh'.
- 35.
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'.
- 36.
Pad kid poured curd pulled cod.
Hard · sounds: p, k, d · Created by MIT speech researchers for a 2013 study
The words alternate between a lip 'p' and a back-of-tongue 'k', each ending in 'd', so hold that p-k-p-k pattern steady before you speed up.
- 37.
Black background, brown background.
Hard · sounds: bl, br, k, g · traditional
Switch between the 'l' in black and the 'r' in brown, and keep the 'k' and 'g' in background as two separate stops.
- 38.
Cheap ship trip.
Hard · sounds: ch, sh, tr, p · traditional
Start cheap with a full stop of the tongue against the roof of your mouth and ship with friction only, then close your lips on every 'p'.
- 39.
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.
- 40.
Peggy Babcock, Peggy Babcock, Peggy Babcock.
Hard · sounds: p, b, g, k · traditional
Close your lips fully on the 'b' in the middle of Babcock before lifting the back of your tongue for the 'k', and stay slow until each repetition is clean.
- 41.
A bloke's back brake block broke.
Hard · sounds: bl, br, k · traditional
Alternate 'bl' and 'br' carefully, and stop each 'k' crisply before your lips close for the next 'b'.
- 42.
Mrs. Smith's Fish Sauce Shop.
Hard · sounds: s, sh, th · traditional
Move from the 'th-s' at the end of Smith's straight into the 'f' of fish, and keep the 's' of sauce distinct from the 'sh' of shop.
- 43.
Six Czech cricket critics.
Hard · sounds: s, ks, ch, kr · traditional
Czech starts with a 'ch' sound, so move from the 'ks' of six to that 'ch' and then to two firm 'kr' starts in cricket and critics.
- 44.
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.
- 45.
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.
- 46.
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.
- 47.
Fresh shrimp shrink; shrunken shrimp shrivel.
Hard · sounds: sh, shr, fr · SceneDub original
Build each 'shr' by moving from a rounded 'sh' straight into 'r' with no vowel in between, and let fresh end on a soft 'sh' before shrimp begins.
- 48.
Shoe shop sock stock.
Hard · sounds: sh, s, st, k · SceneDub original
Round your lips for shoe and shop, spread them for sock and stock, and close the back of the tongue firmly on the final 'k' of sock and stock.
- 49.
Bill paid Phil's pill bill.
Hard · sounds: b, p, f, l · SceneDub original
Close your lips for 'b' and 'p', but touch your top teeth to your lower lip for the 'f' in Phil's, so pill and Phil never sound alike.
- 50.
Cold glue, gold clue, cold clue, gold glue.
Hard · sounds: k, g, kl, gl · SceneDub original
Your tongue does the same thing for 'k' and 'g', so focus on your voice: off for cold and clue, on for gold and glue.
- 51.
Wasps' nests rest on dentists' desks.
Hard · sounds: sps, sts, sks · SceneDub original
Pronounce every consonant in the endings, 'sps' in wasps', 'sts' in nests and dentists', and 'sks' in desks, slowly before you speed up.
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 short tongue twister to start with?
Try "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream." Say it slowly three times before speeding up.
What's the hardest short tongue twister here?
"Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch." Say wrist and watch as two clear beats, moving from the 'st' straight into a rounded 'w' without slipping in an extra 'sh'.
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.