Are you familiar with the term Zungenbrecher? If not, and curious to find out what it means get ready to read this blog. This blog will introduce you to some of the fascinating German tongue twisters along with their English translations. Also, do not forget to get the tips at the end to learn these amazing twisters.
Table of Contents
1. Brautkleid bleibt Brautkleid und Blaukraut bleibt Blaukraut
2. Der Cottbusser Postkutscher putzt den CottbusserPostkutschkasten
3. Achtzig alte Ameisen aßen am Abend achtzig Ananas
4. Fünf Fliegen auf einem Felsen, fünf Fliegen fliegen fort
5. Lang schwang der Klang am Hang entlang
6. Müller, mahl mir mein Mehl, meine Mutter will mir heute Mehlbrei machen
7. Kluge kleine Katzen kratzen keine Krokodile, sondern kluge kleine Katzen kratzen kahle Kinnbacken
8. Müller Lümmer frühstückt schüsselweise grünes Gemüse
9. Bürsten mit schwarzen Borsten bürsten besser als Bürsten mit weißen Borsten
10. Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach
11. Fischers Fritze fischte frische Fische
12. Drei bärtige Reiter reiten rasend über graue Berge
13. Im dichten Fichtendickicht sind dicke Fichten wichtig
14. Edes Jahr im Juli essen Julia und Jens Johannisbeeren
15. Biberacher Bierbrauer brauen beständig braunes BiberacherBockbier
16. Urcht vor Fruchtfleisch führt zu Flucht vor Fruchtfleisch
17. Zwischen zwei Zwetschgenzweigen sitzen zwei zwitschernde Schwalben
18. Der faule Paul klaut blaue Pflaumen vom Baum
19. Dem Müllmann sein Mümmelmann mümmelt an dem Müll dran. An dem Müll dran mümmelt der Mümmelmann vom Müllmann
20. Ein Soldat mit stumpfen Stiefeln saß auf einem spitzen Stein und starrte stundenlang die stillen stummen Sternlein an
21. Wir Wiener Waschweiber würden weiße Wäsche waschen, wennwir wüssten, wo warmes Wasser wäre
22. Schnecken erschrecken, wenn sie an Schnecken schlecken, weilzum Schrecken vieler Schnecken Schnecken nicht schmecken
23. Ein chinesisches Schüsselschiff mit chinesischemSchüsselgeschirr schippert geschwind durch die schimmernde Schilfsee
24. Zwei Astronauten kauten und kauten während sie blaugrüneMondsteine klaubten
The term that is used to describe a German tongue twister is Zungenbrecher, which literally translates to tongue breakers. There are different types of tongue twisters in German that can help you work on your pronunciation. For example, some of these involve the use of alliteration, and others can be palindromes. Hence, the following are some of the German tongue twisters with English translation that are common among the natives.
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Translation: A wedding gown remains a wedding gown, and red cabbage remains red cabbage
The quick switch between the bl- and br- sounds challenges the speaker. Moreover, German speakers usually roll their r, which is uncommon in English.
Translation: The coachman of Cottbus cleans the stagecoach carrier of Cottbus
There are various consonant sounds included in this tongue twister, such as sch, k, tsch, and ck.
Translation: Eighty old ants ate eighty pineapples in the evening
If you wish to practice saying the German sound of ah, then this is the right tongue twister for you.
Translation: Five flies on a rock, five flies fly away
It is one of those German tongue twisters that is full of alliterations. This one consists of the various f, fl, and ff sounds.
Translation: The sound resonated for a long along the slope
The last part of this tongue twister is the trickiest as you need to say entlang and not antlang.
Translation: Miller, give me my flour. My mother wants to cook porridge for me today
In this tongue twister, Deutsch to switch between the vowel sounds you will need to use your lips and tongue.
Translation: Clever little cats don't scratch crocodiles; instead, clever little cats scratch bald chins
Pronounce kluge as kloo-geh, kleine as klai-neh, and Katzen as kaht-sen. The kratzen and Krokodile should be pronounced as kraht-sen and kro-ko-dee-leh respectively.
Translation: Lümmer the miller eats green vegetables for breakfast by the bowlful
The German pronunciation of the tight ü sounds in this tongue twister is quite challenging for most of the speakers.
Translation: Brushes with black bristles brush better than brushes with white bristles
Bürsten should be pronounced byoor-sten, and Borsten as bor-sten. The "ü" in Bürsten needs a rounded lips sound, same as the "u" in rue.
Translation: When flies fly behind flies then flies fly behind flies
To master this tongue twister Deutsch, you need to learn the word “fliegen” and it becomes easier. It further comprises the fl and f sounds.
Translation: Fritz from the family Fischer fished fresh fish
This is a tongue twister ideal for practising the consonant sounds such as -sche and -scht that are used very commonly. Also, switching between the fri and fi sounds is hard.
Translation: Three bearded horsemen ride furiously over grey mountains
This is one of the German tongue twisters that will help you realise the difference between the soft and throat-clearing r sounds.
Translation: In the dense spruce thicket, thick spruces are important
This tongue twister requires you to distinguish the ch sound from the ck sound. In addition, the ch sound is a guttural one which can be tough for non-native speakers.
Translation: Every year in July, Julia and Jens eat redcurrants
The j sound in the German language is very similar to the y in English.
Translation: Beer brewers from Biberach consistently brew brown Bock beer from Biberach
This tongue twister will help you work on your br- and b- sounds.
Translation: Fear of fruit pulp leads to flight from fruit pulp
This is one of the tongue twisters that have subtle consonant sounds and open vowel sounds after the f. It also comprises the u and ü sound.
Translation: Two chirping swallows sit between two plum branches
This tongue twister makes use of the sch and zw sounds from the language.
Translation: Lazy Paul steals blue plums from the tree
The au sound in this German tongue twister is similar to the ow sound in the English language.
Translation: The garbage man’s bunny nibbles on the trash
The term mummelmann is used to refer to rabbits in German and mummeln means food.
Translation: A soldier with blunt boots sat on a pointy rock and stared at the silent stars for hours
This is the German tongue twister that challenges you with the sh- and s- sounds.
Translation: We Viennese washerwomen would wash white laundry if we knew where there was hot water
The term weib is taken from the old German language and refers to a woman or wife. Moreover, the tongue twister is full of w sound in between vowels.
Translation: Snails are frightened when they lick snails because – to the horror of many snails – snails do not taste good
If you want to practice saying the schr- and schn- sounds, then you can focus on this tongue twister.
Translation: A Chinese bowl ship with Chinese bowl dishes swiftly sails through the shimmering reed sea
This is one of the hardest tongue twisters in German for which you will need to sharpen up your s, sch and ch pronunciations.
Translation: Two astronauts chewed and chewed while they collected blue-green moonstones
The au in Astronauten and Mondsteine should be pronounced as ow in cow. Also, ensure to emphasize the r in während and say blaugrüne as blow-groo-neh, with a rolled r.
25. er Grubengräber gräbt die Gruben.
Graben Grabengräber Gruben?
Graben Grubengräber Gräben?
Nein!
Grabengräber graben Gräben.
Grubengräber graben Gruben
Translation: The gravedigger digs graves.
Do ditch diggers dig graves?
Do gravediggers dig ditches?
No!
Gravediggers dig graves.
Ditch diggers dig ditches.
This is among the German tongue twisters with a lot of vowel sounds. Moreover, the umlaut (◌̈) on “a” changes the sound from ah to ay.
If you are also ready to learn these twisters to amaze your friends with your German skills, then here are a set of tips and tricks that can help you with the above German tongue twisters and more:
The tongue twister not only helps you with pronunciation but also enhances your vocabulary for structuring German sentences with ease. So, make sure to not forget them when learning a new language.
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On the whole, if you are also curious and want to learn German, then you can take the help of these tongue twisters to enhance your skills. In addition to that, to understand the various aspects of this language, you can also take the German online coaching for the various levels (A1 to C2). For further details on this, you can also consult our expert mentors and counsellors.
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One of the most famous German tongue twister with English translation is “Fischers Fritze fischte frische Fische” meaning Fritz from the family Fischer fished fresh fish.\
One of the hardest German tongue twisters with the sound Z is “Am zehnten zehnten um zehn Uhr zehn zogen zehn zahme Ziegen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo.” It translates to On October 10, at 10.10am, 10 game goats pulled 10 centners of sugar to the zoo.
The various twisters can help improve your German pronunciation and fluency. They also help to improve your accent with the help of alliterations.
A few of the easy tongue twisters in German for beginners include the following:
| Tongue Twister | Translation |
|---|---|
| Lang schwang der Klang am Hang entlang | The sound vibrates slowly along the slope |
| In Ulm, um Ulm, um Ulm herum | In Ulm, around Ulm, all around Ulm |
| Acht alte Ameisen aßen am Abend Ananas | Eight old ants ate pineapples in the evening |
| Bierbrauer Bauer braut braunes Bier | Brewer Bauer brews brown beer |
The rules that you can follow for tongue twisters include:
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