More Italian Tongue Twisters: 12 Scioglilingua by Sound
A0 · Pronunciation · Tongue twisters 2
Twelve new tongue twisters, five sounds, three tigers and one very confused archbishop. Pick a sound, read out loud, repeat.
Quick answer
Here are 12 more Italian tongue twisters (scioglilingua, shoh-lyee-LEEN-gwah), grouped by the sound they train: R, double consonants, C and G, GLI and SC.
Start with Tre tigri contro tre tigri. Finish with the famous archbishop of Constantinople.
More Italian tongue twisters, grouped by sound
Each group trains one sound. Inside each group they go from easy to hard. New to scioglilingua? Start with the 9 classic Italian tongue twisters.
🟢 Easy
Short. One sound, repeated. Good for day one.
🟡 Medium
A full sentence. Two sounds that fight each other.
🔴 Hard
Long, fast, mean. Read slowly first. Really.
Talking is my job. Even I need a warm-up for these.
Italian tongue twisters for the R
Italian R is a quick tap of the tongue, like the tt in American “butter”. Double RR is the same tap, rolled a little longer.
🟢 Easy · 1
Tre tigri contro tre tigri.
Three tigers against three tigers.
treh TEE-gree KOHN-troh treh TEE-gree
Trains: R after T and G (pronunciation overview). Tip: keep the R tiny and quick. Tre is one beat, not “ter-ay”.
🟢 Easy · 2
Una rana nera e rara sulla rena errò una sera.
A rare black frog wandered on the sand one evening.
OO-nah RAH-nah NEH-rah eh RAH-rah SOOL-lah REH-nah ehr-ROH OO-nah SEH-rah
Trains: R at the start and in the middle of words, and RR in errò. Tip: rena is an old word for sand (today: sabbia). Just enjoy the sound.
🟡 Medium · 3
Oh che orrore, oh che orrore, ho visto un ramarro verde su un muro marrone.
Oh, how awful, oh, how awful, I saw a green lizard on a brown wall.
oh keh ohr-ROH-reh, oh keh ohr-ROH-reh, oh VEE-stoh oon rah-MAHR-roh VEHR-deh soo oon MOO-roh mahr-ROH-neh
Trains: single R against double RR (double consonants). Tip: muro has one quick tap, marrone has a longer roll. Feel the difference. The H in ho is silent: OH.
Hold the double: TT, ZZ, LL
A double consonant is held a split second longer. pala (shovel) and palla (ball) are two different words.
🟡 Medium · 4
Stanno stretti sotto i letti sette spettri a denti stretti.
Seven ghosts are squeezed under the beds, with clenched teeth.
STAHN-noh STREHT-tee SOHT-toh ee LEHT-tee SEHT-teh SPEHT-tree ah DEHN-tee STREHT-tee
Trains: double TT and NN (double consonants). Tip: make a tiny stop before every TT: stret-ti, let-ti, set-te.
🟡 Medium · 5
Dietro il palazzo c’è un povero cane pazzo, date un pezzo di pane al povero pazzo cane.
Behind the building there’s a poor crazy dog, give a piece of bread to the poor crazy dog.
DYEH-troh eel pah-LAHT-tsoh CHEH oon POH-veh-roh KAH-neh PAHT-tsoh, DAH-teh oon PEHT-tsoh dee PAH-neh ahl POH-veh-roh PAHT-tsoh KAH-neh
Trains: double ZZ = a strong TS. Tip: palazzo, pazzo, pezzo: same ZZ, only the vowel changes. Say the three words alone first.
🔴 Hard · 6
Apelle, figlio di Apollo, fece una palla di pelle di pollo. Tutti i pesci vennero a galla per vedere la palla di pelle di pollo fatta da Apelle, figlio di Apollo.
Apelles, son of Apollo, made a ball out of chicken skin. All the fish came up to the surface to see the chicken-skin ball made by Apelles, son of Apollo.
ah-PEHL-leh, FEE-lyoh dee ah-POHL-loh, FEH-cheh OO-nah PAHL-lah dee PEHL-leh dee POHL-loh…
Trains: double LL, plus P without a puff of air. Tip: American P has a little puff (“pull”). Italian P doesn’t: hold a paper in front of your mouth. It shouldn’t move.
Cane pazzo? Me? Fine. But say it right: PAHT-tsoh. Hold the ZZ.
Hard and soft C (and G) in the kitchen
Before a, o, u and in CH: hard (K). Before e, i: soft (CH as in “church”). G works the same way: G / J. Full rules: C and G in Italian.
K 🔨
HARD
chi, chiama, cuoco, cuoca, dica
CH / J 🪶
SOFT
cuoce, cucina, dice, tace, giace, cugina
🟡 Medium · 7
Chi ama chiama chi ama, chiamami tu che chi ami chiami. Chi amo chiamerò se tu non chiami.
Whoever loves calls the one they love; call me, you who call the one you love. I’ll call the one I love if you don’t call.
kee AH-mah KYAH-mah kee AH-mah, kyah-MAH-mee too keh kee AH-mee KYAH-mee. kee AH-moh kyah-meh-ROH seh too nohn KYAH-mee
Trains: CH = K before i and e. Tip: chi is KEE, never “chee”. Chiama is just chi + ama glued together: KYAH-mah.
🔴 Hard · 8
Il cuoco cuoce in cucina e dice che la cuoca giace e tace perché sua cugina non dica che le piace cuocere in cucina col cuoco.
The cook cooks in the kitchen and says that the (woman) cook lies down and keeps quiet, so her cousin won’t say she likes cooking in the kitchen with the cook.
eel KWOH-koh KWOH-cheh een koo-CHEE-nah eh DEE-cheh keh lah KWOH-kah JAH-cheh eh TAH-cheh pehr-KEH SOO-ah koo-JEE-nah nohn DEE-kah keh leh PYAH-cheh KWOH-cheh-reh een koo-CHEE-nah kohl KWOH-koh
Trains: hard C (cuoco) right next to soft C (cuoce), plus soft G (giace, cugina). Tip: look at the next vowel, every time. Cuoco = KWOH-koh, cuoce = KWOH-cheh.
GLI: one soft sound, no hard G
GLI sounds like the lli in “million”, said fast. The G is not a G at all. More: how to pronounce GLI.
🟢 Easy · 9
Figlia, sfoglia la foglia; sfoglia la foglia, figlia.
Daughter, peel the leaf; peel the leaf, daughter.
FEE-lyah, SFOH-lyah lah FOH-lyah; SFOH-lyah lah FOH-lyah, FEE-lyah
Trains: GLI three ways: figlia, sfoglia, foglia. Tip: only one vowel changes: figlia / foglia. Watch your mouth shape.
🔴 Hard · 10
Guglielmo coglie ghiaia dagli scogli scagliandola oltre gli scogli tra mille gorgogli.
Guglielmo picks up gravel from the sea rocks, throwing it past the rocks among a thousand gurgles.
goo-LYEHL-moh KOH-lyeh GYAH-yah DAH-lyee SKOH-lyee skah-LYAHN-doh-lah OHL-treh lyee SKOH-lyee trah MEEL-leh gohr-GOH-lyee
Trains: GLI eight times, next to hard GH (ghiaia) and SC (scogli). Tip: Guglielmo is the Italian name William. Say it alone ten times first.
SC: fishing, then the final boss
SC before a, o, u = SK. SC before e, i = SH. Full rule: SC, SCI, SCH in Italian.
SK 🎣
SC + A, O, U
tasca, esca, esco, pesca, fresca
SH 🐟
SC + E, I
pesce = PEH-sheh
🟡 Medium · 11
Ho in tasca l’esca ed esco per la pesca, ma il pesce non s’adesca, c’è l’acqua troppo fresca.
I have bait in my pocket and I go out fishing, but the fish won’t bite: the water is too cold.
oh een TAH-skah LEH-skah ehd EH-skoh pehr lah PEH-skah, mah eel PEH-sheh nohn sah-DEH-skah, CHEH LAHK-kwah TROHP-poh FREH-skah
Trains: SK six times, then one SH in pesce. Tip: pesca (fishing) and pesce (fish) differ by one vowel and one sound: PEH-skah / PEH-sheh.
🔴🔴 Final boss · 12
Se l’arcivescovo di Costantinopoli si disarcivescoviscostantinopolizzasse, vi disarcivescoviscostantinopolizzereste voi come si è disarcivescoviscostantinopolizzato l’arcivescovo di Costantinopoli?
If the Archbishop of Constantinople un-archbishop-of-Constantinopled himself, would you un-archbishop-of-Constantinople yourselves, the way the Archbishop of Constantinople did?
seh lahr-chee-VEH-skoh-voh dee koh-stahn-TEE-noh-poh-lee… dee-zahr-chee-veh-skoh-vee-skoh-stahn-tee-noh-poh-leed-DZAHS-seh
Trains: SC = SK in arcivescovo, soft CI in arci-, and stamina. Tip: the long words are invented, even for Italians. Cut them into blocks: dis · arci · vescovis · costantinopoli · zzasse.
I read the archbishop one. It took me three days. Worth it.
Your tongue twister challenge
Reading out loud is the whole exercise. Here’s the routine, one twister per day.
1 · Pick 🎯
Choose one twister from the sound you find hardest.
2 · Read ×3 🔁
Read it 3 times: slow, normal, fast. Faster each time.
3 · Record 📱
Record the fast one on your phone. Listen back once.
4 · Check ✅
Short taps on R? Doubles held? K or CH in the right place? Tomorrow, try again.
Paolo
your friend
Sfida! Tre tigri contro tre tigri, tre volte!
Challenge! Three tigers against three tigers, three times! · SFEE-dah, treh VOHL-teh
you
Tre tigri contro tre tigri…
treh TEE-gree KOHN-troh treh TEE-gree…
Paolo
your friend
Più veloce!
Faster! · pyoo veh-LOH-cheh
Common mistakes English speakers make
chee AH-mah → kee AH-mah
Chi = KEE. CH in Italian is always K.
PEH-skeh → PEH-sheh
Pesce: SC before E is SH.
PAH-zoh → PAHT-tsoh
ZZ in pazzo is a strong, held TS.
fig-lee-ah → FEE-lyah
GLI is one soft sound. No hard G.
Step 8 · Practice
🍕 Your turn
Read each twister out loud before you answer. Then press Check. No pressure.
Warm-up · 5 questions
Complete the tongue twister.
1. Tre ___ contro tre tigri.
2. Una rana nera e rara sulla ___ errò una sera.
3. Chi ama ___ chi ama.
4. Figlia, sfoglia la ___.
5. Ho in tasca l’esca ed esco per la ___.
See more exercises · 47 questions ▾Hide the extra exercises ▴
1 · Complete the missing word
Choose the word that completes the twister.
1. …ho visto un ramarro verde su un muro ___.
2. Stanno stretti sotto i letti sette ___ a denti stretti.
3. Dietro il palazzo c’è un povero cane ___.
4. Date un pezzo di ___ al povero pazzo cane.
5. Apelle, figlio di Apollo, fece una palla di pelle di ___.
6. Tutti i pesci vennero a ___.
7. Il cuoco cuoce in ___.
8. Guglielmo coglie ghiaia dagli ___.
9. …ma il pesce non s’adesca, c’è l’acqua troppo ___.
10. Se l’arcivescovo di ___ si disarcivescoviscostantinopolizzasse…
2 · Which sound does it train?
Choose the main sound each twister works on.
1. Tre tigri contro tre tigri.
2. Oh che orrore… un ramarro verde su un muro marrone.
3. Stanno stretti sotto i letti sette spettri a denti stretti.
4. Dietro il palazzo c’è un povero cane pazzo…
5. Chi ama chiama chi ama…
6. Il cuoco cuoce in cucina…
7. Figlia, sfoglia la foglia…
8. Guglielmo coglie ghiaia dagli scogli…
9. Ho in tasca l’esca ed esco per la pesca…
3 · Put the words in order
Which order is the real tongue twister?
1. tigri · contro · tre · tigri · tre
2. rara · una · e · nera · rana
3. marrone · su · muro · un
4. chiama · ama · chi · ama · chi
5. cucina · cuoce · il · in · cuoco
6. foglia · figlia · la · sfoglia
7. pesca · la · esco · per
4 · Write the missing word
Type the missing word. Capital letters don’t matter; an apostrophe counts as an accent (erro’ = errò).
1. Tre ___ contro tre tigri. (tigers)
2. Una ___ nera e rara sulla rena errò una sera. (frog)
3. …ho visto un ramarro ___ su un muro marrone. (green)
4. Stanno stretti sotto i ___ sette spettri. (beds)
5. Dietro il palazzo c’è un povero ___ pazzo. (dog)
6. Il ___ cuoce in cucina. (cook)
7. Figlia, sfoglia la ___. (leaf)
8. …ma il ___ non s’adesca. (fish)
5 · Hard or soft?
How do you say the C, G or SC in this word? Hard = K, G, SK. Soft = CH, J, SH.
1. cuoco
2. cuoce
3. chiama
4. giace
5. ghiaia
6. pesca
7. pesce
6 · What does it mean?
Choose the English meaning.
1. la rana
2. un ramarro verde
3. gli spettri
4. il cuoco
5. la foglia
6. l’esca
New here? Try a 25-minute lesson for $25: book a trial. Not sure about your level? Take the free level test.
Ci vediamo la prossima settimana! – Sì, alla prossima lezione! Ciao!
See you next week! – Yes, see you at the next lesson! Bye!
Want the classics too? Back to the 9 classic Italian tongue twisters →
Written by Luciana
Native Italian teacher, CEDILS certified, 10,000+ lessons since 2020.
