12 French Tongue Twisters, Ranked — Can You Score 90%?

French children learn tongue twisters the way English children learn she sells seashells: as a game. For an adult learner they are something more useful. A good virelangue [viʁ·lɑ̃ɡ] takes one sound you get wrong and makes you say it six times in three seconds, with no room to cheat. If the sound is not in place, the sentence falls apart, and you notice.

That is the whole point. Most pronunciation errors are invisible to the person making them. A tongue twister makes them audible, because the error repeats until it trips you.

Below are twelve, ranked from the easiest to the one French speakers themselves stumble on. Each one trains a specific sound, and each comes with the trap English speakers fall into.

How to practise them

Reading a tongue twister silently is useless. Your eyes are fluent; your mouth is not. For each one:

1. Slow, syllable by syllable. Say it at half speed with every syllable the same length. This is where you fix the sounds.
2. Normal speed. The speed you would use in a sentence. Most errors come back here.
3. Fast, three times in a row. If it survives three repetitions, the sound is yours.

Do not go fast until slow is clean. Speed on a wrong sound only makes the wrong sound automatic.

The ranking at a glance

Warm-up: 12 to 9

12. Douze douches douces

[duz duʃ dus] — Twelve gentle showers.

Three words, one vowel, three different endings. The vowel is [u], the oo of food, but held steady: English oo tends to slide at the end ("doo-w"). The real test is the last consonant. Douze ends in [z], douche in [ʃ], douce in [s], and that final sound is the only thing that separates them. Say the consonant fully. If the three words sound alike, you have dropped it.

11. Ton thé t'a-t-il ôté ta toux ?

[tɔ̃ te ta·t‿il o·te ta tu] — Did your tea get rid of your cough?

Seven [t]s. The English t comes with a small puff of air after it; put your hand in front of your mouth and say tea and you will feel it. The French [t] has no puff, and the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth rather than the ridge behind them. The other trap is thé and ôté: [e] is one tight vowel, not the English "tay" that glides upward.

10. Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend

[dɑ̃ ta tɑ̃t ta tɑ̃t ta·tɑ̃] — Your aunt is waiting for you in your tent.

Tente (tent) and tante (aunt) sound exactly the same: [tɑ̃t]. The vowel is the nasal [ɑ̃], with no [n] after it; if the tip of your tongue touches the roof of your mouth, you have said an English n. Notice also that the final t of tente and tante is pronounced, while the d of attend is silent. Same vowel, different endings, and the spelling will not tell you which.

→ The nasal vowels, drilled one by one: French Nasal Vowels AN EN ON IN: Practice Without Pronouncing the N

9. Pruneau cuit, pruneau cru

[pʁy·no kɥi pʁy·no kʁy] — Cooked prune, raw prune.

Short, and harder than it looks. Cuit is [kɥi]: the lips start rounded for [y] and slide quickly into [i], all in one syllable. Cru is [kʁy], with the French [ʁ] wedged between [k] and [y]. English speakers tend to say "kwee" for cuit (that is [w], from oui) and "crew" for cru (that is [u], and an English r). Say it four times fast and the two words start to swap.

→ The [ɥi] sound, drilled: Lui vs Louis, Huit vs Oui: The French UI Sound Drilled

Middle: 8 to 5

8. Le ver vert va vers le verre vert

[lə vɛʁ vɛʁ va vɛʁ lə vɛʁ vɛʁ] — The green worm goes toward the green glass.

Ver (worm), vert (green), vers (toward) and verre (glass) are four words with four spellings and one pronunciation: [vɛʁ]. That makes this the purest drill in the list. Five times, you need a clear [ɛ], the e of bed, and then a French [ʁ] at the back of the throat. English speakers say "vair", which glides the vowel and either drops the r or curls the tongue for it. Nothing in the sentence changes from word to word, so every error repeats and you can hear it.

→ If the [ʁ] is what goes: The French R for English Speakers: 12 Words, 5 Minutes a Day

7. Seize chaises sèchent

[sɛz ʃɛz sɛʃ] — Sixteen chairs are drying.

Three words, three syllables, three sibilants in a different order each time: [s…z], [ʃ…z], [s…ʃ]. The trap is the [z]. English speakers devoice it at the end of a word, so seize comes out as "sess" and stops meaning sixteen. Keep the buzz in seize and chaises. And sèchent is one syllable: the -ent is silent, as it always is on a verb.

→ [s] against [z], on twenty pairs: French S vs Z: Poisson or Poison, Drilled on 20 Pairs · Why -ent is silent: Why Is ENT Silent in French Verbs?

6. As-tu vu le tutu de tulle de Lili d'Honolulu ?

[a·ty vy lə ty·ty də tyl də li·li dɔ·nɔ·ly·ly] — Have you seen the tulle tutu of Lili from Honolulu?

Seven [y]s and not one [u]. For [y], round your lips as if for [u] but keep the tongue forward, as if you were saying [i]. English has no such vowel, so English speakers reach for the nearest one, and tutu comes out as "too-too" — which, in French, is [tu·tu], a different word. Honolulu is the trap at the end: you know it as an English word, and the English vowels will try to come back.

→ Twenty pairs of exactly this contrast: French U vs OU Pronunciation Practice: 20 Minimal Pairs, Scored

5. Trois tortues trottaient sur un trottoir très étroit

[tʁwa tɔʁ·ty tʁɔ·tɛ syʁ ɛ̃ tʁɔ·twaʁ tʁɛ·z‿e·tʁwa] — Three tortoises were trotting on a very narrow pavement.

Six [tʁ] clusters. The [t] and the [ʁ] have to come out together, with no vowel slipped in between ("tuh-roa"). Then the liaison at the end: très étroit is [tʁɛ·z‿e·tʁwa], with the silent s of très carried onto étroit as a [z]. Leave it out and the phrase sounds broken. And tortues and sur each have a [y], which is easy to lose when the [ʁ] is taking all your attention.

→ How words link in spoken French: Enchaînement: Why Your French Sounds Choppy (Say These 15 Phrases)

Hard: 4 to 1

4. Natacha n'attacha pas son chat Pacha qui s'échappa

[na·ta·ʃa na·ta·ʃa pa sɔ̃ ʃa pa·ʃa ki se·ʃa·pa] — Natacha didn't tie up her cat Pacha, who escaped.

Natacha and n'attacha sound identical, and almost every syllable is [a]. The difficulty is not any one sound but the rhythm. English would say "na-TA-sha", stressing the middle and squashing the rest. French gives every syllable the same length and puts a light lift only on the last syllable of each group: Natacha | n'attacha pas | son chat Pacha | qui s'échappa. Get the rhythm even and the sentence becomes easy. Stress it the English way and it becomes a tongue twister.

→ The rhythm, on twenty phrases: You're Stressing the Wrong Syllable: 20 French Phrases, Scored

3. Je veux et j'exige d'exquises excuses

[ʒə vø e ʒɛɡ·ziʒ dɛks·kiz ɛks·kyz] — I want, and I demand, exquisite apologies.

This one tests the letter x, which French says two ways. In exige it is [ɡz]; in exquises and excuses it is [ks]. Then the last two words differ by one vowel: exquises has [i], excuses has [y]. Say them slowly side by side, [dɛks·kiz] and [ɛks·kyz], until the lips do the work: spread for [i], rounded for [y]. Veux adds [ø], the rounded vowel English speakers turn into "vuh".

2. Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien

[ɛ̃ ʃa·sœʁ sa·ʃɑ̃ ʃa·se dwa sa·vwaʁ ʃa·se sɑ̃ sɔ̃ ʃjɛ̃] — A hunter who knows how to hunt must know how to hunt without his dog.

The most famous French tongue twister, and the one French children practise first. Chasseur goes [ʃ…s]; sachant goes [s…ʃ]. The tongue has to switch between the two positions on every syllable, and after the third switch it starts swapping them. The ending is a separate test: sans son chien is three different nasal vowels in a row, [ɑ̃], [ɔ̃] and [ɛ̃], with no [n] anywhere. Many learners get the first half right and then flatten all three nasals into one.

1. Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches ou archi-sèches ?

[le ʃo·sɛt də laʁ·ʃi·dy·ʃɛs sɔ̃·t‿ɛl sɛʃ u aʁ·ʃi·sɛʃ] — Are the archduchess's socks dry, or extra-dry?

The one French speakers themselves trip on. It alternates [ʃ] and [s] almost every syllable (chau-ssettes, -du-chesse, sèches, archi-sèches), and adds everything else on the way: [y] in -du-, a French [ʁ] in archi-, a liaison in sont-elles [sɔ̃·t‿ɛl], and [u] in ou right after a run of [ɛ]. If you can say it three times fast with every [ʃ] and [s] where it belongs, there is not much left in French that will catch you.

Where it goes wrong, by sound

If the same sound keeps breaking across several tongue twisters, that is the one to work on. The table below groups them.

→ For contrasts like these, drilled as pairs: 50 French Minimal Pairs to Train Your Mouth (with Instant Scoring)

FAQ

What is a tongue twister called in French?

Un virelangue [ɛ̃ viʁ·lɑ̃ɡ], literally "a tongue-turner". You will also hear une phrase difficile à dire.

Are tongue twisters actually useful for pronunciation?

Yes, if you use them for the right thing. They are not vocabulary, and nobody needs to talk about archduchesses' socks. What they do is repeat one difficult sound until any error in it becomes audible. Used slowly first and fast only once each sound is right, they are a drill. Used fast from the start, they just teach you to mumble.

Which one is hardest for English speakers?

For most learners, number 1 (les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse), because it stacks the [s]/[ʃ] switch on top of [y] and [ʁ]. But the most revealing is often number 6: seven [y]s and no [u] at all, a vowel English does not have.

Do French people find these hard too?

Numbers 1 and 2 trip up native speakers at speed; that is why every French child knows them. Numbers 12 to 5 are easy for a French speaker and hard for an English speaker, because they target sounds English does not have.

How fast should I be able to say them?

Faster than normal speech is a party trick. The useful target is clean at normal speed, three times in a row. If you are clean at that speed, you will be clean in conversation.

The words behind the twisters

Several of these twisters are built on everyday words, each of which has its own set of near-synonyms and register notes:

• 9 Ways to Say Socks in French
• 9 Ways to Say Dry in French
• 9 Ways to Say Chair in French
• 9 Ways to Say Cat in French
• 9 Ways to Say Dog in French

Can you score 90%?

A tongue twister tells you that something went wrong. It does not tell you what. When tutu comes out wrong, you hear the stumble, but not whether it was the vowel, the lips or the speed. And on the sounds English does not have, like [y], [ʁ] and the nasals, your own ear is the least reliable judge, because it sorts French sounds into English categories before you notice.

Say each twister into Simply French and get it scored sound by sound. Start at number 12. Move up a rank only when you clear 90%.

Related

• The 15 Hardest French Words — Say Them, Score Them, Beat Them
• 50 French Minimal Pairs to Train Your Mouth (with Instant Scoring)
• French U vs OU Pronunciation Practice: 20 Minimal Pairs, Scored
• The French R for English Speakers: 12 Words, 5 Minutes a Day
• The 10 Politeness Phrases Tourists Butcher (Say Each, Get Scored)