--- title: "Chinese Tongue Twisters (绕口令) With Pinyin, Audio and English | Mandarin The Wild" description: "16 real Chinese tongue twisters (绕口令), easiest first: each word with tone-coloured pinyin, the English meaning, and Play to hear it slow, normal or fast. Free, no sign-up." canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-tongue-twisters" author: "Mandarin The Wild" --- Free tool · No sign-up # Chinese tongue twisters 16 real 绕口令, easiest first. Play one, say it with the voice, then try it fast. Speed māma妈妈qímǎ骑马，mǎ马màn慢，māma妈妈mà骂mǎ马。 Mum rides a horse. The horse is slow, so Mum scolds the horse. hóng红lǐyú鲤鱼yǔ与lǜ绿lǐyú鲤鱼yǔ与lǘ驴。 A red carp, a green carp and a donkey. chī吃pútao葡萄bù不tǔ吐pútao葡萄pí皮，bù不chī吃pútao葡萄dào倒tǔ吐pútao葡萄pí皮。 Eat grapes without spitting out the skins; don’t eat grapes, yet spit out the skins. lǎoshī老师lǎoshì老是jiào叫lǎoshí老石，lǎo老shí石lǎoshì老是jiào叫lǎoshī老师。 The teacher is always calling Old Shi, and Old Shi is always calling the teacher. sìshìsì四是四，shíshìshí十是十，shísì十四shì是shísì十四，sìshí四十shì是sìshí四十。shéi谁néng能shuō说zhǔn准sìshí四十、shísì十四、sìshísì四十四，shéi谁lái来shìyīshì试一试。 Four is four, ten is ten, fourteen is fourteen, forty is forty. Whoever can say forty, fourteen and forty-four right, come and try. tiānshàng天上qī七kē颗xīng星，dìshang地上qī七kuài块bīng冰，tái台shàng上qī七zhǎn盏dēng灯，shù树shàng上qī七zhī只yīng鹰，qiáng墙shàng上qī七méi枚dīng钉。 Seven stars in the sky, seven blocks of ice on the ground, seven lamps on the stage, seven eagles in the tree, seven nails in the wall. bābǎi八百biāobīng标兵bēn奔běipō北坡，běipō北坡pàobīng炮兵bìngpái并排pǎo跑，pàobīng炮兵pà怕bǎ把biāobīng标兵pèng碰，biāobīng标兵pà怕pèng碰pàobīng炮兵pào炮。 Eight hundred soldiers run for the north slope; on the north slope the gunners run side by side. The gunners fear bumping the soldiers, the soldiers fear bumping the gunners’ guns. ménkǒu门口yǒu有sì四liàng辆sì四lún轮dà大mǎchē马车，nǐ你ài爱lā拉nǎ哪liǎng两liàng辆jiù就lā拉nǎ哪liǎng两liàng辆。 At the door are four big four-wheeled carts. Pull whichever two you like. fěnhóng粉红qiáng墙shàng上huà画fènghuáng凤凰，fènghuáng凤凰huà画zài在fěnhóng粉红qiáng墙。 A phoenix is painted on the pink wall; the phoenix is painted on the pink wall. sījī司机mǎi买cí雌jī鸡，zǐxì仔细kàn看cí雌jī鸡，sì四zhī只xiǎo小cí雌jī鸡，jījī叽叽hǎo好huānxǐ欢喜。 The driver buys hens and looks the hens over: four little hens, cheeping happily. zhīdào知道jiù就shuō说zhīdào知道，bù不zhīdào知道jiù就shuō说bù不zhīdào知道，bùyào不要zhīdào知道shuō说bù不zhīdào知道，yě也bùyào不要bù不zhīdào知道zhuāng装zhīdào知道。 If you know, say you know; if you don’t, say you don’t. Don’t say you don’t know when you do, and don’t pretend to know when you don’t. liùshíliù六十六suì岁liú刘lǎoliù老六，xiū修le了liùshíliù六十六zuò座zǒumǎ走马lóu楼。 Liu Laoliu, aged sixty-six, built sixty-six houses with verandas. hēi黑huàféi化肥fā发huī灰huì会huīfā挥发，huī灰huàféi化肥huīfā挥发huì会fāhēi发黑。 Black fertiliser turns grey and evaporates; grey fertiliser evaporates and turns black. zuǐ嘴shuō说tuǐ腿，tuǐ腿shuō说zuǐ嘴，zuǐ嘴shuō说tuǐ腿ài爱pǎotuǐ跑腿，tuǐ腿shuō说zuǐ嘴ài爱mài卖zuǐ嘴。 The mouth talks about the legs and the legs about the mouth: the mouth says the legs love running errands, the legs say the mouth loves to show off. biǎndan扁担cháng长，bǎndèng板凳kuān宽，biǎndan扁担méiyǒu没有bǎndèng板凳kuān宽，bǎndèng板凳méiyǒu没有biǎndan扁担cháng长。biǎndan扁担bǎng绑zài在bǎndèng板凳shàng上，bǎndèng板凳bù不ràng让biǎndan扁担bǎng绑zài在bǎndèng板凳shàng上。 The carrying pole is long, the bench is wide. The pole isn’t as wide as the bench, the bench isn’t as long as the pole. The pole is tied to the bench, and the bench won’t let the pole be tied to it. huì会dùn炖wǒ我de的dùn炖dòng冻dòufu豆腐，lái来dùn炖wǒ我de的dùn炖dòng冻dòufu豆腐，bùhuì不会dùn炖wǒ我de的dùn炖dòng冻dòufu豆腐，jiù就bié别dùn炖wǒ我de的dùn炖dòng冻dòufu豆腐。 Whoever can stew my stewed frozen tofu, come and stew my stewed frozen tofu; whoever can’t stew my stewed frozen tofu, don’t stew my stewed frozen tofu. ## What is a Chinese tongue twister? A tongue twister is 绕口令 (ràokǒulìng), “a rule that winds the mouth”. Chinese children learn them at school and announcers warm up with them. Most play on sounds that differ only by tone, like 妈 马 骂 (mā mǎ mà), or by one sound, like s and sh in 四是四，十是十. ## How to practise one Play it slow and say it with the voice, word by word, until each tone is right. Then play it at normal speed, and then fast. Say it three times in a row without a slip before you move on to the next one. ## Why does the pinyin show 一 and 不 in their own tones? The pinyin gives each word its own tone, as a dictionary does. Said aloud, some tones change: 不要 is said búyào and 一只 yì zhī. The [tone sandhi checker](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-sandhi) shows every tone that changes in a text. ## Can’t hear it? Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; on other browsers, add Chinese speech in your system’s language settings. ## More free tools - [Tone practice](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-practice) - [Tone pairs](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-pairs) - [Chinese text to speech](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-text-to-speech) - [Tone sandhi checker](https://mandarinthewild.com/tone-sandhi) - [Pinyin chart](https://mandarinthewild.com/pinyin-chart) Pinyin from our own reader.