Quick tongue-twisters for common hard German words

Here are some quick German tongue-twisters that feature common hard words and sounds, perfect for practicing difficult German pronunciation. Each tongue-twister is presented in [translate:] markup as required, with translations and notes for context.

Classic German Tongue-Twisters

• Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz
  Fisherman Fritz fishes fresh fish; fresh fish is what fisherman Fritz fishes. This is one of the most famous Zungenbrecher in Germany, packed with challenging “sch” and “fr” sounds. ^{2, 7}

• Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid und Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut
  A wedding dress stays a wedding dress and red cabbage stays red cabbage. This one is tough because of the repeated and inverted “r” and “l” sounds. ^{5, 7}

• Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen hinter Fliegen her
  When flies fly after flies, flies fly after flies. Great for practicing the “fl” sound and German’s noun-verb double meanings. ^{7, 2, 5}

• Zehn Ziegen zogen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo
  Ten goats carried ten hundredweights of sugar to the zoo. Useful for mastering the “z” and “ts” sounds. ⁵

More Hard German Twisters

• Der dicke Dachdecker deckt Dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker Dir Dein Dach deckte
  The fat roofer tiles your roof, so thank the fat roofer, that the fat roofer tiled your roof. This twister repeats tough “d” and “ck” sounds. ²

• Hundert hungrige Handwerker haben Heißhunger auf Hamburger
  One hundred hungry craftsmen are super hungry for hamburgers. A good workout for the “h” and “hw” sounds. ⁵

• Einsame Esel essen nasse Nesseln nicht, nasse Nesseln essen einsame Esel nicht
  Lonely donkeys don’t eat wet nettles, and wet nettles are not eaten by lonely donkeys. Good for practicing the soft “Esel” and sharp “Nesseln” s-sounds. ⁷

• Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut und Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid
  Red cabbage stays red cabbage and a wedding dress stays a wedding dress. A classic for food and wedding vocabulary, packed with hard nasal sounds. ^{2, 7, 5}

These tongue-twisters will help train pronunciation and articulation of challenging German sounds and words commonly encountered in daily language.

References

• 20 German tongue twisters for beginners and advanced …

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• Advent Calendar 21 – “Let’s twist again”

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