20 French tongue twisters (virelangues), with translations

French tongue twisters — virelangues — attack exactly the sounds French is famous for: the throat R, the S/CH border, and nasal vowels that don't exist in English. Two of them are so famous that French people quote the first three words and everyone finishes the sentence.

The two every French speaker knows

1. Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. A hunter who knows how to hunt must know how to hunt without his dog. The S/CH ("s"/"sh") gauntlet — France's "she sells seashells."

2. Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? Are the archduchess's socks dry, extremely dry? Actors' warm-up standard since forever.

Starters

3. Ton thé t'a-t-il ôté ta toux? — Did your tea cure your cough? (T-drill; sounds like morse code)
4. Cinq chiens chassent six chats. — Five dogs chase six cats.
5. La roue sur la rue roule; la rue sous la roue reste. — The wheel rolls on the road; the road under the wheel stays.
6. Douze douches douces. — Twelve soft showers. (×3)
7. Fruits frais, fruits frits, fruits cuits, fruits crus. — Fresh fruit, fried fruit, cooked fruit, raw fruit. (×3 — the learner-killer)
8. Seize chaises sèchent. — Sixteen chairs are drying.

Mid-level

9. Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — If six saws saw six cypresses, six hundred saws saw six hundred cypresses.
10. Je veux et j'exige d'exquises excuses. — I want and demand exquisite apologies.
11. Un dragon gradé dégrade un gradé dragon. — A ranked dragon demotes a ranked dragoon.
12. Trois tortues trottaient sur un trottoir très étroit. — Three turtles trotted on a very narrow sidewalk.
13. Le ver vert va vers le verre vert. — The green worm goes toward the green glass. (Five words pronounced identically — homophones at war)
14. Didon dîna, dit-on, du dos d'un dodu dindon. — Dido dined, they say, on the back of a plump turkey.
15. Ces cerises sont si sûres qu'on ne sait pas si c'en sont. — These cherries are so sour you can't tell if they are cherries.

Brutal

16. Les vers verts levèrent le verre vert vers le ver vert. — The green worms raised the green glass toward the green worm.
17. Tonton, ton thé t'a-t-il ôté ta toux tenace? — extended tenacious-cough version of #3
18. Un pâtissier qui pâtissait chez un tapissier qui tapissait... — the pastry-chef/upholsterer saga; French children use it as an endurance test
19. Je suis ce que je suis, et si je suis ce que je suis, qu'est-ce que je suis? — I am what I am, and if I am what I am, what am I? (Also philosophy homework)
20. Kiki était cocotte, et Koko concasseur de cacao. — the K-drill from a classic cabaret song

For learners: what these fix

The French R (#5, #12) lives in the throat, not the tongue tip — closer to a gargle than the English R (opposite problem from the rolled Spanish R). The S/CH contrast (#1, #4, #9) maps to English S/SH, so those drills transfer. And #7 (fruits frais...) trains the French U — say "ee" with "oo" lips.

Record any of these on the tongue twister test — speed and clarity scored in 15 seconds, so you know whether your "chasseur sachant chasser" is progress or soup.

FAQ

What is a tongue twister called in French? Virelangue — literally "tongue-turner." The formal linguistic term is the same idea as English.

What's the most famous French tongue twister? "Un chasseur sachant chasser..." — the hunter one. "Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse" is the close second and the actors' favorite.