Chinese tongue twisters, known as 绕口令 (ràokǒulìng), offer a fun and challenging way to practice pronunciation and fluency in Mandarin.
Below are some popular Chinese tongue twisters, complete with their pinyin transcriptions. These tongue twisters cleverly play with similar sounds to challenge the speaker’s ability to differentiate and articulate closely related phonetic elements, making it great for practicing the nuances of Mandarin pronunciation.
Don’t be frustrated if you can’t keep up immediately. Chinese tongue twisters can be quite challenging, even for native speakers! Take it slowly and practice regularly. You’ll master them one day!
/i/ & /ü/
红鲤鱼与绿鲤鱼与驴。
(Hóng lǐyú yǔ lǜ lǐyú yǔ lǘ.)
Red carp, green carp, and a mule.
/en/ & /ing/ & /eng/
桌上放个盆，盆里有个瓶，砰砰砰，不知道是瓶碰盆，还是盆碰瓶。
(Zhuō shàng fàng gè pén, pén lǐ yǒu gè píng, pēng pēng pēng, bù zhīdào shì píng pèng pén, háishì pén pèng píng.)
There’s a basin on the table, a bottle in the basin, bang bang bang, don’t know if it’s the bottle hitting the basin or the basin hitting the bottle.
/s/ & /sh/
四是四，十是十，十四是十四，四十是四十。
(Sì shì sì, shí shì shí, shísì shì shísì, sìshí shì sìshí.)
Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty.
/p/ & /b/ & /t/
吃葡萄不吐葡萄皮，不吃葡萄倒吐葡萄皮。
(Chī pútao bù tǔ pútao pí, bù chī pútao dào tǔ pútao pí.)
Eat grapes without spitting out the skins, don’t eat grapes but spit out the skins.
/b/ & /d/
板凳宽，扁担长。扁担没有板凳宽，板凳没有扁担长。扁担绑在板凳上，板凳不让扁担绑在板凳上，扁担偏要扁担绑在板凳上。
(Bǎndèng kuān, biǎndan cháng. Biǎndan méiyǒu bǎndèng kuān, bǎndèng méiyǒu biǎndan cháng. Biǎndan bǎng zài bǎndèng shàng, bǎndèng bù ràng biǎndan bǎng zài bǎndèng shàng, biǎndan piān yào biǎndan bǎng zài bǎndèng shàng.)
The bench is wide, the carrying pole is long. The carrying pole isn’t as wide as the bench, the bench isn’t as long as the carrying pole. The carrying pole is to be tied to the bench. The bench doesn’t allow the carrying pole to be tied onto it, but the carrying pole insists on being tied to the bench.
/b/ & /p/
八百标兵奔北坡，炮兵并排北边跑。炮兵怕把标兵碰，标兵怕碰炮兵炮。
(Bābǎi biāobīng bēn běi pō, pàobīng bìng pái běibiān pǎo. Pàobīng pà bǎ biāobīng pèng, biāobīng pà pèng pàobīng pào.)
Eight hundred standard bearers dash up the northern slope, while the artillerymen run side by side to the north. The artillerymen are afraid of bumping into the standard bearers; the standard bearers are afraid of bumping into the artillery guns.
/n/ & /l/
牛郎恋刘娘，刘娘念牛郎，牛郎牛年恋刘娘，刘娘连年念牛郎，郎恋娘来娘念郎，念娘恋郎，念恋娘郎！
(Niú láng liàn Liú niáng, Liú niáng niàn Niú láng, Niú láng niú nián liàn Liú niáng, Liú niáng lián nián niàn Niú láng, láng liàn niáng lái niáng niàn láng, niàn niáng liàn láng, niàn liàn niáng láng!)
The Cowherd loves Lady Liu, Lady Liu thinks of the Cowherd, the Cowherd in the year of the ox loves Lady Liu, Lady Liu year after year thinks of the Cowherd, the lad loves the lady and the lady thinks fondly, thinking of the lady loving the lad, thinking lovingly of the lady lad!
/h/ & /f/
黑化肥发灰，灰化肥发黑。黑化肥发黑不发灰，灰化肥发灰不发黑。
(Hēi huàféi fā huī, huī huàféi fā hēi. Hēi huàféi fā hēi bù fā huī, huī huàféi fā huī bù fā hēi.)
Black fertilizer turns gray, gray fertilizer turns black. Black fertilizer turns black, not gray; gray fertilizer turns gray, not black.
抱着灰鸡上飞机，飞机起飞，灰鸡要飞。
(Bàozhe huī jī shàng fēijī, fēijī qǐfēi, huī jī yào fēi.)
Holding a grey chicken onto the plane, the plane takes off, the grey chicken flies.
/z/ & /sh/ & /t/
嘴说腿，腿说嘴，嘴说腿爱跑腿，腿说嘴爱卖嘴。光动嘴不动腿，光动腿不动嘴，不如不长腿和嘴。到底是嘴说腿还是腿说嘴。
(Zuǐ shuō tuǐ, tuǐ shuō zuǐ, zuǐ shuō tuǐ ài pǎo tuǐ, tuǐ shuō zuǐ ài mài zuǐ. Guāng dòng zuǐ bù dòng tuǐ, guāng dòng tuǐ bù dòng zuǐ, bùrú bù zhǎng tuǐ hé zuǐ. Dàodǐ shì zuǐ shuō tuǐ háishì tuǐ shuō zuǐ.)
The mouth talks about legs, the legs talk about the mouth; the mouth says the legs love to run, the legs say the mouth loves to chatter. Just moving the mouth, not the legs; just moving the legs, not the mouth; it’s better to neither have legs nor a mouth. In the end, should the mouth speak to the legs or the legs to speak of the mouth.
/ch/ & /q/
/āng/ & /áng/ & /iáng/ & /uáng/
量窗量床又量墙，跳上床量窗，靠往墙量床，墙比张床长，床又比窗长，窗长不过床，床又长不过墙，所以墙比床比窗长。
(Liáng chuāng liáng chuáng yòu liáng qiáng, tiào shàng chuáng liáng chuāng, kào wǎng qiáng liáng chuáng, qiáng bǐ zhāng chuáng cháng, chuáng yòu bǐ chuāng cháng, chuāng cháng bùguò chuáng, chuáng yòu cháng bùguò qiáng, suǒyǐ qiáng bǐ chuáng bǐ chuāng cháng.)
Measure the window, measure the bed, then measure the wall; jump on the bed to measure the window, lean towards the wall to measure the bed. The wall is longer than the bed, the bed is longer than the window, the window’s length is less than the bed’s, the bed’s length doesn’t exceed the wall’s, so the wall is longer than the bed and the window.
/f/ & /h/
/eng/ & /ong/ & /ang/
粉红墙上画凤凰，凤凰画在粉红墙。红凤凰，粉凤凰，红粉凤凰，花凤凰。
(Fěnhóng qiáng shàng huà fènghuáng, fènghuáng huà zài fěnhóng qiáng. hóng fènghuáng, fěn fènghuáng, hóngfěn fènghuáng, huā fènghuáng.)
On the pink wall, draw a phoenix; Phoenix painted on pink wall. A red phoenix, a pink phoenix, a pink-red phoenix, a flower phoenix.
Tones
石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。
(Shí shì shī shì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.)
Mr. Shi, the poet in the stone room, loves lions and vows to eat ten lions.
妈妈骑马，马慢，妈妈骂马。妞妞骑牛，牛扭，妞妞扭牛。
(māma qí mǎ, mǎ màn, māma mà mǎ. Niūniū qí niú, niú niǔ, niūniū niǔ niú.)
Mom rides a horse, the horse is slow, mom scolds the horse. Niu Niu rides a bull, the bull twists, Niu Niu twists the bull.
Extended learning:
The Complete Chinese Pronunciation Drills
Chinese Pronunciation: The Complete Guide for Beginner
