Tongue twisters in English
English tongue twisters are tricky, funny sentences in English that don’t make much sense. They don’t need to though, because their secret job is to help you pronounce words correctly, not teach you facts. Take a look at how silly they can be. Kids and grown-ups alike love taking on the challenge and competing to say different tongue twisters right. It’s a fun game that helps improve language skills. Tongue twisters are a fun and funny way to practice English pronunciation. Here are the most popular ones.
English tongue twisters: Peter Piper
The tongue twister about Peter and pickled peppers first appeared in print in 1813 in John Harris’s book “Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation.” However, most likely this rhyme was created even earlier. One of the possible inspirations for this tongue twister is Pierre Poivre, a gardener who became famous for sneaking cloves. The name “Poivre” means “pepper,” just like “Piper.” It’s possible that Poivre grew pickled peppers in his garden.
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?
But if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, were they pickled when he picked them from the vine? Or was Peter Piper pickled when he picked the pickled, peppers peppers picked from the pickled pepper vine?
English tongue twisters: Woodchuck
Like many tongue twisters, Woodchuck probably existed before the official date. It was first performed in 1903 as the chorus of a song in the musical “The Runaway.”
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood that he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
English tongue twisters: She sells sea shells
This English tongue twister was most likely inspired by Mary Anning, an English paleontologist and fossil collector from the 19th century. She was responsible for discovering the complete skeleton of a plesiosaur and for being one of the first people to identify fossilized poop.
Sister Sue sells sea shells. She sells sea shells on the sea shore. The shells she sells. Are sea shells she sees. Sure she sees shells she sells.
English tongue twisters: Betty Botter
The tongue-twister Betty Botter was written by the American writer and poet Carolyn Wells. It even appeared in the popular English nursery rhyme book Mother Goose.
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.
But a bit of better butter will make my batter better.
So ‘twas better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.
English tongue twisters: One-liners
English tongue twisters use similarly sounding words to create difficult-to-pronounce texts. So, after translation, they lose their specific rhythm and melody, which makes them challenging to say, although their content remains surprising and often nonsensical. Here are the most popular one-liner English tongue twisters.
