Persian Tongue Twisters: 18 Real Farsi Twisters with Pronunciation

The most famous Persian tongue twister is قوری گل قرمزی (ghuri-ye gol ghermezi), “the teapot with red flowers.” Say it three times fast and the gh, r and l collide. Close behind are شیش سیخ جیگر، سیخی شیش هزار (shish sikh jigar, sikhi shish hezâr), “six skewers of liver, six thousand a skewer,” and دایی چاقه، چایی داغه (dâyi châghe, châyi dâghe), “Uncle is fat, the tea is hot.”

Listen

Below are 18 Persian tongue twisters that Iranians really use, the ones children dare each other with and that radio presenters and acting students drill. Each one comes with Persian script, a transliteration, a literal translation, the sound it trains and a tip for getting through it. They are grouped from short and easy to long and tricky, and there is practice along the way.

What Iranians call a tongue twister

The modern Persian term is زبان‌پیچ (zabân-pich), literally “tongue twister”: zabân means tongue or language, and pich comes from pichidan, to twist. In everyday speech most people just call them جمله‌های سخت (jomle-hâ-ye sakht), “hard sentences,” and the game has a fixed challenge line:

سه بار پشت سر هم تند بگو (se bâr posht-e sar-e ham tond begu), “Say it three times in a row, fast.”

Listen

You will hear this at family gatherings, in school yards and on children’s TV. Tongue twisters are also standard warm-ups in فن بیان (fann-e bayân), the training in clear speech that Persian-speaking newsreaders, presenters, actors and teachers go through. For a learner they do the same job: they force your mouth to switch quickly between sounds that English does not separate.

Two things to know before you start. First, many twisters are written the way people speak, so you will see شیش for شش (shish for shesh, “six”), جیگر for جگر (jigar for jegar, “liver”) and endings like -e or -st instead of است (ast, “is”). That is normal; if the colloquial forms are new to you, see our guide to spoken vs written Persian. Second, most twisters mean very little. Their job is sound, not sense, so do not worry if a translation sounds silly.

The sounds Persian tongue twisters train

Almost every classic twister targets one of the sounds below. If you know which one gives you trouble, you can pick the right twister instead of practicing at random. Our Persian alphabet guide covers every letter in more detail.

Short Persian tongue twisters for beginners

Start with these. They are short enough to memorize in a minute, so all your attention can go to the sounds.

1. The red-flowered teapot

قوری گل قرمزی

Listen

ghuri-ye gol ghermezi
“the teapot with red flowers”

The best-known Persian tongue twister, and the one most Iranians will test you with. Every Iranian home has a قوری (ghuri), the teapot that sits on top of the samovar or kettle, and a flowered one is a classic. Two gh sounds, an l and two r sounds sit right next to each other. When you speed up, people tend to say “ghuri gol ghermeli” or “ghuli gor ghermezi.”

Tip: make both gh sounds in the throat, not with the tongue, and keep the r a light tap. Say it as two units: ghuri-ye / gol ghermezi.

2. Six skewers of liver

شیش سیخ جیگر، سیخی شیش هزار

Listen

shish sikh jigar, sikhi shish hezâr
“six skewers of liver, six thousand a skewer”

Grilled lamb liver on skewers, جیگر (jigar), is a favorite Iranian street food, so this sounds like a vendor calling out his price. The challenge is sh and s taking turns: shish sikh … sikhi shish. Notice the spoken spellings شیش and جیگر, and سیخی (sikhi), “per skewer.”

Tip: exaggerate the lip rounding on every sh and smile on every s. The kh in sikh should scrape lightly at the back of the mouth.

3. Uncle is fat, the tea is hot

دایی چاقه، چایی داغه

Listen

dâyi châghe, châyi dâghe
“(my) uncle is fat, the tea is hot”

A perfect beginner twister: four words, and the d and ch simply swap places. دایی (dâyi) is your mother’s brother, and چایی (châyi) is the spoken, affectionate form of چای (chây, tea). The ending -e is the spoken form of است, “is”: چاقه (châghe) = “is fat,” داغه (dâghe) = “is hot.”

Tip: keep both vowels long: dâ, châ. If you make them short, it stops sounding Persian. Learn more family words in our Persian family words list.

4. Fizzy doogh

دوغ گازدار، گاز دوغ‌دار

Listen

dugh-e gâzdâr, gâz-e dughdâr
“fizzy doogh, doogh-filled fizz”

دوغ (dugh) is the salty yogurt drink served with kebab, and it is often sold carbonated, گازدار (gâzdâr, “with gas”). Here the two words simply trade places. The trap is the vowel: u in dugh and long â in gâz, together with gh at the end of one word and g at the start of the next.

Tip: the final gh of dugh is made in the throat, the g of gâz is an ordinary English g. Feel the difference before you speed up.

5. Chips, glue, sauce

چیپس، چسب، سس

Listen

chips, chasb, sos
“chips, glue, sauce”

A modern favorite with schoolchildren. Three tiny words, all packed with ch, s and p/b. چیپس (chips) means potato chips, چسب (chasb) is glue or tape, and سس (sos) is sauce, from French. Most people fail by the second round and say “chisp” or “chaps.”

Tip: let each vowel be clear and short: i, a, o. Don’t blend the three words into one.

6. What an ugly pose

چه ژست زشتی

Listen

che zhest-e zeshti
“what an ugly pose”

ژست (zhest) is a pose, from French geste, and زشت (zesht) means ugly. This one is short but excellent for the zh / z contrast, which English speakers rarely meet at the start of a word. The ezâfe -e links the noun and adjective: zhest-e zesht, “an ugly pose.”

Tip: zh is the sound in the middle of “measure.” Hold it for a moment before you move to the z. See the letter ژ on our letter zhe page.

Medium Persian tongue twisters

These are longer and include a little grammar, so they double as reading practice.

7. The six-legged louse

کشتم شپش شپش‌کش شش‌پا را

Listen

koshtam shepesh-e shepesh-kosh-e shesh-pâ râ
“I killed the six-legged, louse-killing louse”

A classic that every Iranian child knows. It is pure sh overload: شپش (shepesh, louse), شپش‌کش (shepesh-kosh, louse-killer) and شش‌پا (shesh-pâ, six-legged). Grammatically it is a neat example of ezâfe chains and of را marking the definite object: “I killed the louse.”

Tip: the trap is the k in kosh; people drop it and say “shepeshosh.” Say shepesh / kosh as separate beats at first.

8. Tuesday night

امشب شب سه‌شنبه‌ست، فردا شبم سه‌شنبه‌ست، این سه سه شب، اون سه سه شب، هر سه سه شب سه‌شنبه‌ست

Listen

emshab shab-e seshambe-st, fardâ shabam seshambe-st, in se se shab, un se se shab, har se se shab seshambe-st
“tonight is Tuesday eve, tomorrow night is Tuesday too; these three-three nights, those three-three nights, all three-three nights are Tuesday”

This one twists both your tongue and your brain. سه‌شنبه (seshanbe, Tuesday) contains سه (se, three), so the word “three” keeps appearing. In normal speech the n before b turns into m: people say seshambe. The ending -st is the spoken “is.”

There is also a real cultural point hiding here. In Persian, شب سه‌شنبه (shab-e seshanbe, literally “the night of Tuesday”) is the evening before Tuesday, that is, Monday night. In the same way, شب جمعه (shab-e jom’e) is Thursday night, the start of the Iranian weekend. Our days of the week lesson explains the names.

Tip: mark the rhythm with your hand: in se-se shab / un se-se shab / har se-se shab.

9. Tiny cumin seeds

زیره‌ی ریزه‌میزه از زیر میز می‌ریزه

Listen

zire-ye rize-mize az zir-e miz mirize
“the teeny-tiny cumin is spilling from under the table”

زیره (zire) is cumin, ریزه‌میزه (rize-mize) is a playful rhyming pair meaning “teeny-tiny,” زیر میز (zir-e miz) is “under the table,” and می‌ریزه (mirize) is the spoken form of “is pouring/spilling.” Five words built from almost the same letters: z, r, m and i.

Tip: the r here is a single light tap. If you roll it, you will run out of time. Keep z and r crisp and the long i long.

10. The soldier on the slide

سربازی سر سرسره‌بازی زد سر سربازی را شکست

Listen

sarbâzi sar-e sorsore-bâzi zad sar-e sarbâzi râ shekast
“during a game on the slide, a soldier hit another soldier on the head and broke it”

Wordplay is the whole point. سرباز (sarbâz) is a soldier, سر (sar) is head, بازی (bâzi) is play, and سرسره (sorsore) is a playground slide. The phrase سر (sar-e) means both “the head of” and “during.” So sar-e sorsore-bâzi is “while playing on the slide,” and sar-e sarbâzi is “a soldier’s head.”

Tip: watch the vowel in sorsore (o, not a). Everyone wants to say “sarsare” because every other word starts with sar.

11. The senior Austrian officer

افسر ارشد ارتش اتریش

Listen

afsar-e arshad-e artesh-e otrish
“the senior officer of the Austrian army”

Four words joined by ezâfe, all starting with a vowel and all containing r or s/sh: افسر (afsar, officer), ارشد (arshad, senior), ارتش (artesh, army), اتریش (otrish, Austria). It is excellent ezâfe practice because you must link every word with -e without stopping.

Tip: glide the -e into the next vowel: afsar-e arshad-e artesh-e otrish, one breath.

12. Three thieves, goats

سه دزد رفتن به بزدزدی، یه دزد یه بز دزدید، یه دزد دو بز دزدید

Listen

se dozd raftan be boz-dozdi, ye dozd ye boz dozdid, ye dozd do boz dozdid
“three thieves went goat-stealing; one thief stole one goat, one thief stole two goats”

دزد (dozd) is a thief, دزدیدن (dozdidan) is to steal, and بز (boz) is a goat. The d, z and b keep bumping into each other: boz dozdid. It is also good numbers practice, with یه (ye, the spoken “one”), دو (do, two) and سه (se, three).

Tip: the short o in dozd and boz is like the o in British “hot.” Don’t turn it into “u.”

Hard Persian tongue twisters

These are long, full of repeated words, and fun to try on native speakers. Many Iranians cannot get through them on the first attempt either.

13. The merchant

تاجر، تو چه تجارت می‌کنی؟ تو را چه که من چه تجارت می‌کنم

Listen

tâjer, to che tejârat mikoni? to râ che ke man che tejârat mikonam
“Merchant, what trade do you do? What is it to you what trade I do?”

تاجر (tâjer, merchant) and تجارت (tejârat, trade) come from the same Arabic root, and the t, j and ch trip over each other. تو را چه (to râ che) is an old, slightly rude “what business is it of yours?”, so the merchant’s reply has some attitude.

Tip: keep tâ long in tâjer and short-short in te-jâ-rat. The stress falls at the end: tejârát.

14. The fragrant melon

یار دستنبو به دستم داد و دستم بوی دستنبوی دست یار گرفت

Listen

yâr dastanbu be dastam dâd-o dastam bu-ye dastanbu-ye dast-e yâr gereft
“my beloved gave me a dastanbu, and my hand took on the scent of the dastanbu from my beloved’s hand”

The most poetic one on the list. دستنبو (dastanbu) is a small, fragrant striped melon, and its name seems to contain دست (dast, hand) and بو (bu, smell), which is exactly what the sentence plays with. یار (yâr) is an old word for a beloved or close companion, common in poetry and songs.

Tip: the hard part is bu-ye dastanbu-ye dast-e. Treat it as three steps and breathe before dast-e yâr gereft.

15. The car bumpers

سپر جلوی ماشین عقبی خورد به سپر عقب ماشین جلویی

Listen

separ-e jelo-ye mâshin-e aghabi khord be separ-e aghab-e mâshin-e jeloyi
“the front bumper of the car behind hit the rear bumper of the car in front”

A modern twister that sounds like a traffic report. سپر (separ) is a bumper, جلو (jelo) is front, عقب (aghab) is back, and the endings -i in عقبی (aghabi) and جلویی (jeloyi) mean “the one behind” and “the one in front.” Once you have it, try the mirror version, where the rear bumper of the front car hits the front bumper of the car behind. Saying which car hit which gets very confusing.

Tip: this is a logic twister. Picture the two cars before you speak.

16. My friend wants to be your friend’s friend

دوست من دوست داره با دوست تو دوست بشه، دوست داری با دوست من که دوست داره با دوست تو دوست بشه دوست بشی؟

Listen

dust-e man dust dâre bâ dust-e to dust beshe, dust dâri bâ dust-e man ke dust dâre bâ dust-e to dust beshe dust beshi?
“my friend wants to become friends with your friend; would you like to become friends with my friend, who wants to become friends with your friend?”

This one works because دوست (dust) means “friend,” while دوست داشتن (dust dâshtan) means “to like” or “to want,” and دوست شدن (dust shodan) means “to become friends.” It is all spoken Persian: داره (dâre) for دارد, بشه (beshe) for بشود.

Tip: great grammar practice for the subjunctive be- after dust dâshtan. Read it slowly once for meaning before you try it fast.

17. Three sir of cream

سه سیر سرشیر، سه شیشه شیر

Listen

se sir sarshir, se shishe shir
“three sir of cream, three bottles of milk”

سیر (sir) is an old unit of weight once used in Iranian markets (it is also the word for garlic and for “full”), سرشیر (sarshir) is the thick clotted cream Iranians eat with bread and honey at breakfast, and شیشه (shishe) is a bottle or glass. The s / sh switch happens in almost every syllable.

Tip: slow down on sarshir: s first, sh second. Then shishe shir is all sh.

18. The gazelle that went grazing

آهویی رفته بود چرا، که هم چرد و هم چراند بچه را، نه خود چرید نه بچه را، بگید چرا

Listen

âhuyi rafte bud charâ, ke ham charad o ham charânad bachche râ, na khod charid na bachche râ, begid cherâ
“a gazelle had gone grazing, to graze and to let her young one graze; she neither grazed nor fed her young. Tell me: why?”

A riddle and a twister in one, built on two words that look identical in writing: چرا read charâ means “grazing” (from چریدن, charidan, to graze), and read cherâ means “why.” It also mixes literary verb forms (چرد charad, چراند charânad) with a spoken ending, بگید (begid, “tell me”). Children love asking the last question and watching people search for an answer.

Tip: this is mainly reading practice. Unvowelled Persian script hides the difference between charâ and cherâ; context is everything. Our Farsi alphabet lessons explain short vowels that are not written.

All 18 Persian tongue twisters at a glance

How to practice Persian tongue twisters

Tongue twisters work only if you practice them the right way. Speed is the last step, not the first.

1. Understand it. Read the Persian, the transliteration and the meaning. A twister you understand is much easier to remember.
2. Isolate the sound. Find the target sound in the table above and say it alone ten times, then in single words.
3. Go painfully slow. Say the whole twister at half speed, perfectly. Use the Listen buttons to compare.
4. Chunk it. Split long ones into two or three parts, then join them.
5. Speed up in steps. Only when it is clean three times in a row, go a little faster. Then try the challenge: سه بار پشت سر هم تند بگو, three times in a row, fast.
6. Record yourself. Your phone is the cheapest pronunciation coach. Listen back the next day, when your ear is fresh.
7. Test a native speaker. Ask an Iranian friend to try number 8 or 15. You will get a laugh and, often, a new twister from their own childhood.

Five minutes a day is enough. Pair the twisters with our tips for sounding like a native and the free pronunciation lesson. If you want to type the twisters yourself, use the online Persian keyboard.

Tongue twisters, wordplay and Persian humor

Iranians love language games. Alongside tongue twisters you will meet riddles (چیستان, chistân), rhyming nonsense pairs like ریزه‌میزه (rize-mize), and jokes built on words that are written the same but read differently, like charâ and cherâ above. Once your pronunciation is steady, the next step is humor: try our explained Persian jokes, which use the same spoken forms you have practiced here.

If you are teaching children, tongue twisters are an easy win: they are short, silly and repeatable. Start with numbers 1, 3 and 5, let the kids challenge the adults.

Want to keep going? Take the Persian alphabet quiz to check the letters behind these sounds.

Common questions

What is a famous Persian tongue twister?

The most famous is قوری گل قرمزی (ghuri-ye gol ghermezi), “the teapot with red flowers.” Other very well-known ones are شیش سیخ جیگر، سیخی شیش هزار (shish sikh jigar, sikhi shish hezâr) and کشتم شپش شپش‌کش شش‌پا را (koshtam shepesh-e shepesh-kosh-e shesh-pâ râ).

What is the hardest Persian tongue twister?

It depends on your weak sounds, but long ones with repeated words are hardest for most people, including native speakers: امشب شب سه‌شنبه‌ست (Tuesday night), the car-bumper twister and the “friend” twister. For English speakers, anything with gh and kh is tough at first.

How do you say “tongue twister” in Persian?

The word is زبان‌پیچ (zabân-pich). In everyday speech people often say جمله‌های سخت (jomle-hâ-ye sakht), “hard sentences.”

Are tongue twisters good for learning Persian?

Yes, as a short daily warm-up. They train the sounds English does not have (gh, kh, zh at the start of words), the ezâfe linking and spoken forms. They do not replace real conversation, so combine them with dialogues such as our Farsi conversation lessons.

Is there an easy Persian tongue twister for kids?

دایی چاقه، چایی داغه (dâyi châghe, châyi dâghe), “Uncle is fat, the tea is hot,” is short and funny. چیپس، چسب، سس (chips, chasb, sos) is another favorite with children.

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