Pronunciation · Brazilian Portuguese
Portuguese tongue twisters
Tongue twisters, trava-línguas, are how Brazilian children practise the hardest sounds in Portuguese, and they work as well for learners: the strong and the tap r, nh and lh, the nasal vowels. Play each one slowly first and say it along with the recording, then try it at normal speed.
All 32 tongue twisters
Easy
One sentence, one sound: start here.
- Easy
O rato roeu a roupa do rei de Roma.
The rat gnawed the clothes of the king of Rome.
Practises r at the start of a word (said like an English h) · Strong r (rr)
- Easy
Pedro pregou um prego na porta preta.
Pedro hammered a nail into the black door.
Practises pr · Tap r
- Easy
A babá boba bebeu o leite do bebê.
The silly nanny drank the baby's milk.
Practises b, and open é vs closed ê · Open and closed e
- Easy
Bagre branco, branco bagre.
White catfish, catfish white.
Practises br, gr · Tap r
- Easy
Um tigre, dois tigres, três tigres.
One tiger, two tigers, three tigers.
Practises tr, gr · Tap r
- Easy
Casa suja, chão sujo.
Dirty house, dirty floor.
- Easy
Sabia que o sabiá sabia assobiar?
Did you know the thrush knew how to whistle?
Sabia (knew) and sabiá (a thrush, Brazil's national bird) differ only in stress.
Practises word stress (sabia vs sabiá) · Word stress
- Easy
Um limão, mil limões, um milhão de limões.
One lemon, a thousand lemons, a million lemons.
Practises nasal ão and ões, lh · Nasal vowels, lh
- Easy
Bote a bota no bote e tire o pote do bote.
Put the boot in the boat and take the pot out of the boat.
Practises open ó vs closed ô · Open and closed o
- Easy
O peito do pé do Pedro é preto.
The top of Pedro's foot is black.
Practises p, pr, t · Tap r
Medium
Longer, or two sounds against each other.
- Medium
Três pratos de trigo para três tigres tristes.
Three plates of wheat for three sad tigers.
The best-known Portuguese tongue twister.
Practises tr, pr · Tap r
- Medium
A aranha arranha a rã. A rã arranha a aranha. Nem a aranha arranha a rã, nem a rã arranha a aranha.
The spider scratches the frog. The frog scratches the spider. Neither does the spider scratch the frog, nor the frog the spider.
Practises r vs rr, nh · Strong r (rr), Tap r, nh
- Medium
A vaca malhada foi molhada por outra vaca molhada e malhada.
The spotted cow was soaked by another soaked, spotted cow.
Practises lh · lh
- Medium
Atrás da pia tem um prato, um pinto e um gato. Pinga a pia, apara o prato, pia o pinto e mia o gato.
Behind the sink there's a plate, a chick and a cat. The sink drips, the plate catches it, the chick cheeps and the cat meows.
Practises p, nasal in · Nasal vowels
- Medium
A pipa pinga, o pinto pia. Quanto mais o pinto pia, mais a pipa pinga.
The barrel drips, the chick cheeps. The more the chick cheeps, the more the barrel drips.
Pipa here is an old word for a barrel, not a kite.
Practises p, nasal in · Nasal vowels
- Medium
O sabiá não sabia que o sábio sabia que o sabiá não sabia assobiar.
The thrush didn't know that the wise man knew that the thrush didn't know how to whistle.
Practises word stress (sabia, sabiá, sábio) · Word stress
- Medium
Quico quer caqui. Que caqui que o Quico quer? O Quico quer qualquer caqui.
Quico wants a persimmon. Which persimmon does Quico want? Quico wants any persimmon.
Practises qu (said like k) · qu
- Medium
Lá vem o velho Félix com o fole velho nas costas.
Here comes old Félix with the old bellows on his back.
Practises v vs f, lh · lh
- Medium
Olha o sapo dentro do saco. O saco com o sapo dentro. O sapo batendo papo e o papo soltando vento.
Look at the frog inside the sack. The sack with the frog inside. The frog chatting away and its throat letting out air.
Papo is both a frog's throat pouch and a chat.
Practises s, p · s and z
- Medium
Luzia lustrava o lustre listrado. O lustre listrado luzia.
Luzia polished the striped chandelier. The striped chandelier shone.
Practises l, str · Tap r
- Medium
A Iara agarra e amarra a rara arara de Araraquara.
Iara grabs and ties up the rare macaw from Araraquara.
Araraquara is a city in São Paulo state.
Practises r between vowels (a quick tap) · Tap r
- Medium
Fala, arara loura. A arara loura falará.
Speak, blonde macaw. The blonde macaw will speak.
Practises r, l, ou · Tap r
- Medium
Quem a paca cara compra, paca cara pagará.
Whoever buys the expensive paca will pay dearly for it.
The paca is a large Brazilian rodent.
Practises c, p
- Medium
O padre Pedro tem um prato de prata. O prato de prata não é do padre Pedro.
Father Pedro has a silver plate. The silver plate isn't Father Pedro's.
Practises pr, dr, d · Tap r
- Medium
Gato escondido com rabo de fora tá mais escondido que rabo escondido com gato de fora.
A hidden cat with its tail sticking out is more hidden than a hidden tail with the cat sticking out.
Practises d (said like j before i and e) · d and t before i
Hard
Long, fast, and built to trip you up.
- Hard
Num ninho de mafagafos há sete mafagafinhos. Quem os desmafagafizar bom desmafagafizador será.
In a nest of mafagafos there are seven little mafagafos. Whoever un-mafagafos them will be a good un-mafagafier.
Mafagafo is a made-up creature: the fun is in the endings.
Practises f, g, nh · nh
- Hard
Toco preto, porco fresco, corpo crespo.
Black stump, fresh pig, curly body.
Practises r inside clusters (pr, fr, cr), r before a consonant · Tap r, r before a consonant
- Hard
Em rápido rapto, um rápido rato raptou três ratos sem deixar rastros.
In a quick kidnapping, a quick rat kidnapped three rats without leaving a trace.
Practises r at the start of a word, tr · Strong r (rr), Tap r
- Hard
O doce perguntou pro doce qual é o doce mais doce que o doce de batata-doce. O doce respondeu pro doce que o doce mais doce que o doce de batata-doce é o doce de doce de batata-doce.
The sweet asked the sweet which sweet is sweeter than sweet-potato sweet. The sweet answered that the sweetest sweet is the sweet made of sweet-potato sweet.
Practises d, s, and keeping track · s and z
- Hard
O tempo perguntou pro tempo quanto tempo o tempo tem. O tempo respondeu pro tempo que o tempo tem tanto tempo quanto tempo o tempo tem.
Time asked time how much time time has. Time answered that time has as much time as time has.
Practises nasal em, t · Nasal vowels
- Hard
O original não se desoriginaliza. Se se desoriginalizasse, deixaria de ser original.
The original doesn't un-originalise itself. If it did, it would stop being original.
Practises long words, s vs z · s and z
- Hard
Não confunda ornitorrinco com otorrinolaringologista, ornitorrinco com ornitologista, ornitologista com otorrinolaringologista. Ornitorrinco é ornitorrinco, ornitologista é ornitologista e otorrinolaringologista é otorrinolaringologista.
Don't confuse a platypus with an ear, nose and throat doctor, a platypus with an ornithologist, or an ornithologist with an ENT doctor. A platypus is a platypus, an ornithologist is an ornithologist, and an ENT doctor is an ENT doctor.
Practises rr, long words · Strong r (rr)
Questions
What is the most famous Portuguese tongue twister?
Três pratos de trigo para três tigres tristes (three plates of wheat for three sad tigers): almost every Brazilian learns it as a child. O rato roeu a roupa do rei de Roma (the rat gnawed the clothes of the king of Rome) is a close second, and the easier place to start.
How do you say “tongue twister” in Portuguese?
Trava-língua, plural trava-línguas: from travar (to lock) and língua (tongue), so a tongue-locker. It is masculine: o trava-língua, os trava-línguas.
Do tongue twisters help with pronunciation?
Yes, as practice: each one repeats a hard sound many times in a row, so your mouth learns to make it quickly. They don't teach the sound itself, so learn how it is made first (each card links to its sound on the pronunciation guide), then say the twister slowly before speeding up.