8 Chinese Tongue Twisters to Sharpen Your Mandarin Pronunciation

Struggling with the difference between sì and shí? You're not alone. Mandarin has several sounds that English doesn't, and tongue twisters, called 绕口令 (ràokǒulìng) in Chinese, are a fun way to drill them. Chinese children learn them at school for exactly the same reason.

Below are eight well-known twisters, from beginner drills for s and sh to tricky ones for h and f. Each comes with characters, pinyin, a translation, the sounds it trains and a tip for practising it. If pinyin is still new to you, start with our guide to learning Chinese pinyin.

1. 四是四，十是十 (sì shì sì, shí shì shí)

This is the classic Chinese tongue twister and the perfect starting point. The full version, 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), means "Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty." It makes your mouth switch rapidly between the "s" and "sh" sounds, and it doubles as practice for numbers in Chinese.

The difficulty lies in tongue placement. For sì (四), the tip of your tongue stays flat, just behind your top front teeth. For shí (十) and shì (是), curl the tip up and back towards the roof of your mouth, without touching it.

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: s vs sh, plus the contrast between the falling fourth tone of sì and the rising second tone of shí.
• Level: Beginner. The words are simple, even if saying it fast is not.
• Tip: Warm up with pairs that differ only in s and sh, such as 四 (sì, four) and 是 (shì, to be), or 三 (sān, three) and 山 (shān, mountain). Record yourself and compare with native audio. Keep the tones clean too: sì falls sharply and shí rises. Our guide to tones in Chinese explains each one.

2. 吃葡萄 (chī pútao, eating grapes)

This playful twister is a favourite in Chinese classrooms: 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). It means "Eat grapes without spitting out the skins; don't eat grapes, yet spit out the skins."

The challenge is switching quickly between different consonants: the retroflex ch of chī (吃) and the aspirated p and t of pú (葡), pí (皮) and tǔ (吐), which all need a clear puff of air. 不 (bù) is a handy contrast: its b has no puff of air. Notice that 不 keeps its fourth tone here, because the syllables after it, tǔ and chī, aren't fourth tones.

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: aspirated p and t against unaspirated b, and the retroflex ch.
• Level: Beginner to intermediate.
• Tip: Hold a tissue in front of your mouth. It should flutter on pú, pí and tǔ, but hardly move on bù. Learn the first half until it flows, then the second half, then join them. 葡萄 is usually said pútao, with a light second syllable.

3. 黑化肥发灰会挥发 (hēi huàféi fā huī huì huīfā)

This one is famously hard: 黑化肥发灰会挥发，灰化肥挥发会发黑 (hēi huàféi fā huī huì huīfā, huī huàféi huīfā huì fā hēi). It means "Black fertiliser turns grey and evaporates; grey fertiliser evaporates and turns black." It packs almost every syllable with an h or an f, followed by similar finals like ei, ui and ua.

For f, as in féi (肥) and fā (发), your top teeth lightly touch your bottom lip. For h, as in hēi (黑) and huī (灰), the air comes from the back of the mouth, with a slightly rougher sound than an English h. Doing that switch at speed without blending the sounds is hard. In some southern Chinese dialects h and f are easily confused, which is partly why this twister is so well known among native speakers too.

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: h vs f, and the finals ei, ui and ua.
• Level: Advanced. The words 化肥 (huàféi, fertiliser) and 挥发 (huīfā, to evaporate) are also less common.
• Tip: Drill pairs first: 黑 (hēi, black) and 飞 (fēi, to fly), 灰 (huī, grey) and 飞 (fēi). Film yourself saying them slowly and check that your teeth touch your lip only on the f.

4. 粉红墙上画凤凰 (fěnhóng qiáng shang huà fènghuáng)

Another h and f workout, this time with colours: 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 shang huà fènghuáng, fènghuáng huà zài fěnhóng qiáng. hóng fènghuáng, fěn fènghuáng, hóngfěn fènghuáng, huā fènghuáng). It means "A phoenix is painted on the pink wall; the phoenix is painted on the pink wall. Red phoenix, pink phoenix, red-and-pink phoenix, colourful phoenix."

As well as switching between fěn (粉) and hóng (红), you have to keep three nasal finals apart: the eng of fèng (凤), the ong of hóng (红) and the uang of huáng (凰).

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: f vs h, and the finals eng, ong and uang.
• Level: Intermediate.
• Tip: Say 凤凰 (fènghuáng, phoenix) slowly in front of a mirror: teeth on lip for fèng, then an open mouth for huáng. Then build up: hóng fènghuáng, fěn fènghuáng, and so on.

5. 红鲤鱼与绿鲤鱼与驴 (hóng lǐyú yǔ lǜ lǐyú yǔ lǘ)

This well-known twister means "Red carp and green carp and a donkey." Longer versions go on to tell a story about the carp and the donkeys, but the title line alone is a real test. Its nonsense meaning forces you to rely on precise sounds rather than context.

The difficulty is the quick succession of lǐ (鲤), yú (鱼), yǔ (与), lǜ (绿) and lǘ (驴). The ü vowel needs tightly rounded lips, and after l you have to keep i and ü clearly apart, all while the tones keep changing.

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: i vs ü, especially after l, and fast tone changes.
• Level: Advanced.
• Tip: For ü, say "ee" and round your lips as if to whistle, without moving your tongue. Practise pairs such as 李 (lǐ, a surname) and 吕 (lǚ, a surname), or 你 (nǐ, you) and 女 (nǚ, woman), then say each word of the twister slowly: hóng (red), lǜ (green), lǐyú (carp), lǘ (donkey).

6. 八百标兵奔北坡 (bābǎi biāobīng bēn běipō)

A classic drill for b and p: 八百标兵奔北坡，北坡炮兵并排跑。炮兵怕把标兵碰，标兵怕碰炮兵炮 (bābǎi biāobīng bēn běipō, běipō pàobīng bìngpái pǎo. pàobīng pà bǎ biāobīng pèng, biāobīng pà pèng pàobīng pào). It means "Eight hundred pacesetters race to the north slope; on the north slope, artillerymen run side by side. The artillerymen are afraid of bumping into the pacesetters, and the pacesetters are afraid of bumping the artillerymen's guns."

In pinyin, b is not a voiced English b: it is an unaspirated p, with no puff of air. Pinyin p is aspirated, with a strong puff. This twister makes you alternate between them in almost every syllable. (奔 is usually read bēn here, though some dictionaries give bèn for its "head towards" meaning.)

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: unaspirated b vs aspirated p.
• Level: Intermediate.
• Tip: Use the tissue test again: it should stay still on bā, bīng and běi and flutter on pào, pǎo and pèng. Start with 标兵 (biāobīng) and 炮兵 (pàobīng) side by side.

7. 妈妈骑马 (māma qí mǎ)

A short, gentle twister for tones: 妈妈骑马，马慢，妈妈骂马 (māma qí mǎ, mǎ màn, māma mà mǎ). It means "Mum rides a horse; the horse is slow, so Mum scolds the horse."

It uses the famous ma family: 妈 (mā, mum), 马 (mǎ, horse) and 骂 (mà, to scold), with 骑 (qí, to ride) adding a second tone and the second 妈 of 妈妈 taking a neutral tone. The tones are the whole challenge here.

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: all four tones and the neutral tone.
• Level: Beginner.
• Tip: Say it slowly while drawing each tone in the air with your hand. In 马慢 (mǎ màn), the third tone before a fourth tone is usually said as a low "half third tone" that doesn't rise.

8. 牛郎恋刘娘 (niúláng liàn liúniáng)

This one trains n and l: 牛郎年年恋刘娘，刘娘年年念牛郎 (niúláng niánnián liàn liúniáng, liúniáng niánnián niàn niúláng). It means "Year after year the cowherd loves Miss Liu; year after year Miss Liu misses the cowherd." 牛郎 (niúláng) is the cowherd from the folk tale of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, which is behind the 七夕 (qīxī) festival.

English speakers can usually say n and l on their own. The hard part is switching between them quickly when they are followed by similar finals such as iu, ian and iang. Speakers from parts of southern China often mix up n and l, so this twister is popular with native speakers too.

How to practise it

• Sounds it trains: n vs l.
• Level: Intermediate.
• Tip: Pinch your nose while you say it. An n needs air through your nose, so it should feel blocked, while an l should sound the same either way. Start with 牛 (niú, cow) and 刘 (liú, a surname), then 年 (nián, year) and 恋 (liàn, to love).

The 8 Chinese Tongue Twisters Compared

Beyond the Twister: Pronunciation Practice in Your Daily Study

Each twister isolates one or two sounds, so treat them as a diagnostic tool rather than a party trick. Getting through them is less about speed and more about hearing and producing the difference cleanly. The real goal is to carry those sounds into your everyday Mandarin.

From Drills to Daily Habits

• Become a sound hunter: After drilling a twister like 黑化肥发灰会挥发 (hēi huàféi fā huī huì huīfā), spend the rest of your study session listening for h and f in dialogues, podcasts or Chinese dramas. This trains your ear to catch the sounds in natural speech.
• Use micro-drills: You don't need the full twister every time. Repeat just the hard part, such as hēi huà and huì huī, for a few seconds whenever you have a spare moment.
• Say the sounds in real sentences: A twister trains your mouth, but conversation needs the same sounds in sentences you'll actually use. The Chunking Chinese fluency trainer has you say reusable sentence chunks out loud and marks the tone and pronunciation of each character, so you can check whether your s and sh, or your tones, hold up outside a drill.
• Hear them in context: Reading real sentences with audio keeps the sounds tied to meaning. In Mandarin Mosaic, each sentence introduces one new word, and you can tap any word to hear it and see what it means.

Why Deliberate Practice Works

Using tongue twisters is deliberate practice: find a weakness, isolate it with a specific drill, then bring the improved sound back into normal speech. A few minutes a day on the twister that targets your weakest sound will do more than reciting all eight once a week.

Want to hear these sounds in real sentences every day? Mandarin Mosaic teaches Chinese through HSK-levelled sentences, one new word at a time, with audio for every word you tap and spaced repetition to bring each one back before you forget it. At the time of writing, you can try it free for 30 days.

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