Cantonese Tongue Twisters with Jyutping Audio
Ten classic Cantonese tongue twisters with standard Jyutping and instant playback—great for clarity and tones.
Tongue twisters are not just games. For Cantonese learners, they are an efficient way to train clear articulation, stable tones, and near-minimal pairs. Each line below has standard Jyutping audio—listen, then shadow.
What to listen for
Focus on contrasts, not volume:
- 雞 / 龜:
gai1vsgwai1(lip rounding) - 斑馬 / 班長:
baan1 maa5vsbaan1 zoeng2 - 床腳 / 牆角:
cong4 goek3vscoeng4 gok3 - 魚腸 / 姨丈:
jyu4 coeng4vsji4 zoeng6
Initial, final, and tone often shift together—train them as a unit.
Ten Cantonese tongue twisters
1. 雞龜骨滾羹
Meaning: Chicken and turtle bones boiling into soup.
Short and dense: quick tone changes—good warm-up.
雞龜骨滾羹。
gai1 gwai1 gwat1 gwan2 gang1
2. 入實驗室撳緊急掣
Meaning: Go into the lab and press the emergency button.
Stop codas and nasal codas alternate—train breath and bite.
入實驗室撳緊急掣。
jap6 sat6 jim6 sat1 gam6 gan2 gap1 zai3
3. 郵差叔叔送信純熟迅速送出
Meaning: The postman uncle delivers mail skillfully and sends it out swiftly.
Many s / su sounds—alveolar friction and pacing.
郵差叔叔送信純熟迅速送出。
jau4 caai1 suk1 suk1 sung3 seon3 seon4 suk6 seon3 cuk1 sung3 ceot1
4. 黐線蜘蛛啲蜘蛛絲黐住枝樹枝
Meaning: The crazy spider’s silk sticks to the tree branches. (黐線 = “nuts / out of your mind” in Cantonese.)
Dense zi1 / zyu1 / ci1—tongue-tip placement.
黐線蜘蛛啲蜘蛛絲黐住枝樹枝。
ci1 sin3 zi1 zyu1 di1 zi1 zyu1 si1 ci1 zyu6 zi1 syu6 zi1
5. 各個國家有各個國家嘅國歌
Meaning: Every country has its own national anthem.
gok3 / go3 / gwok3 alternate—rounded vs unrounded.
各個國家有各個國家嘅國歌。
gok3 go3 gwok3 gaa1 jau5 gok3 go3 gwok3 gaa1 ge3 gwok3 go1
6. 姨媽而家去宜家傢俬
Meaning: Auntie is going to IKEA now to buy IKEA furniture that she needs right now. (而家 = now; 宜家 = IKEA.)
Repeating 而家 / 宜家 / 傢俬—long-line breath and stress.
姨媽而家去宜家傢俬買而家啱用嘅宜家傢俬。
ji4 maa1 ji4 gaa1 heoi3 ji4 gaa1 gaa1 si1 maai5 ji4 gaa1 aam1 jung6 ge3 ji4 gaa1 gaa1 si1
7. 床腳撞牆角
Meaning: The bed leg hits the wall corner; the wall corner hits the bed corner—so which hits which?
Classic bed-leg / wall-corner contrast—easy to blur at speed.
床腳撞牆角，牆角撞床角，你話床角撞牆角定牆角撞床腳！
cong4 goek3 zong6 coeng4 gok3 coeng4 gok3 zong6 cong4 gok3 nei5 waa6 cong4 gok3 zong6 coeng4 gok3 ding6 coeng4 gok3 zong6 cong4 goek3
8. 去街市買魚腸
Meaning: Go to the market for fish intestines, run into uncle (auntie’s husband), put the fish intestines down, greet him, pick them up again, then say bye.
魚腸 / 姨丈 switches—tones and initials under pressure.
去街市買魚腸，見到姨丈，放低魚腸，問候姨丈，執翻魚腸，拜拜姨丈。
heoi3 gaai1 si5 maai5 jyu4 coeng4 gin3 dou2 ji4 zoeng2 fong3 dai1 jyu4 coeng4 man6 hau6 ji4 zoeng2 zap1 faan1 jyu4 coeng4 baai1 baai3 ji4 zoeng2
9. 搵隻斑馬同個班長
Meaning: Find a zebra and a class monitor; then the monitor rides the zebra to the podium to present medals.
斑馬 / 班長 / 頒獎章 chain—advanced near pairs.
搵隻斑馬同個班長。跟住班長騎住斑馬，去頒獎台頒獎章。
wan2 zek3 baan1 maa5 tung4 go3 baan1 zoeng2 gan1 zyu6 baan1 zoeng2 ke4 zyu6 baan1 maa5 heoi3 baan1 zoeng2 toi4 baan1 zoeng2 zoeng1
10. 一蚊一斤龜，七蚊一斤雞
Meaning: Turtle is $1 a catty, chicken $7 a catty—he says turtle is dearer than chicken; I say chicken is dearer than turtle. So which is it?
龜貴 / 雞貴 logic knot—sort it slowly, then accelerate.
一蚊一斤龜，七蚊一斤雞，佢話龜貴過雞，我話雞貴過龜，咁究竟龜貴過雞定係雞貴過龜？
jat1 man1 jat1 gan1 gwai1 cat1 man1 jat1 gan1 gai1 keoi5 waa6 gwai1 gwai3 gwo3 gai1 ngo5 waa6 gai1 gwai3 gwo3 gwai1 gam3 gau3 ging2 gwai1 gwai3 gwo3 gai1 ding6 hai6 gai1 gwai3 gwo3 gwai1
FAQ
Tones or speed first?
Tones. Fast and wrong is still wrong. Accuracy first, then tempo.
Will this teach lazy pronunciation?
It can, if you only copy casual fast speech. Follow the standard Jyutping audio here; verify with the dictionary when unsure.
Why Jyutping?
Tone numbers make practice measurable and repeatable—and easy to type into lessons later.