Trabalenguas or Spanish-Language Tongue Twisters

Trabalenguas or Spanish-Language Tongue Twisters Think you have your Spanish pronunciation down? If so, test your skills with the tongue twisters below. If they seem too easy, try repeating them rapidly. Even if youre a native speaker, youre likely to be tripped up sooner or later. Incidentally, the Spanish word for tongue twister is a compound noun, trabalenguas, or (loosely translated) thing that ties tongues. Like most other compound nouns, it is masculine. Tongue Twisters Based on Words With ‘P’ Poquito a poquito Paquito empaca poquitas copitas en pocos paquetes. (Little by little, Paquito packs a few tiny glasses in a few packages.) Pepe puso un peso en el piso del pozo. En el piso del pozo Pepe puso un peso. (Pepe put a peso on the floor of the well. On the floor of the well Pepe put a peso.) Pepe Peà ±a pela papa, pica pià ±a, pita un pito, pica pià ±a, pela papa, Pepe Peà ±a. (Pepe Peà ±a peels potatoes, cuts pineapple, blows a whistle, cuts pineapple, peels potatoes, Pepe Peà ±a.) En la poblacià ³n de Puebla, pueblo muy poblado, hay una plaza pà ºblica poblada de pueblerinos. (In the city of Puebla, a very populated town, there is a public plaza populated with Pueblans.) El hipopà ³tamo Hipo est con hipo.  ¿Quià ©n le quita el hipo al hipopà ³tamo Hipo? (Hipo the hippopotamus has a hiccup. Who is curing the hiccup for the hippopotamus Hipo? Tongue Twisters Featuring Other Hard Consonant Sounds  ¡Quà © triste ests, Tristn, con tan tà ©trica trama teatral! (How sad you are, Tristn, with such a gloomy theatrical tale! Una cacatrepa trepa tiene tres cacatrepitos. Cuando la cacatrepa trepa trepan los tres cacatrepitos. (A climbing caterpillar has three baby caterpillars. When the climbing caterpillar climbs the three baby caterpillars climb.) Como poco coco como, poco coco compro. (Since I eat little coconut, little coconut I buy.) Comprà © pocas copas, pocas copas comprà ©, como comprà © pocas copas, pocas copas pagarà ©. (I will buy few drinking glasses, few drinking glasses I will buy, as I will buy few drinking cups, few drinking cups will I pay.) Toto toma tà ©, Tita toma mate, y yo me tomo toda mi taza de chocolate. (Toto drinks tea, Tita drinks mate, and I drink up all my cup of chocolate.) Cuando cuentes cuentos, cuenta cuantos cuentos cuentas, porque si no cuentas cuantos cuentos cuentas nunca sabrs cuantos cuentos cuentas tà º. (When you tell me stories, tell me how many stories you tell me, because if you dont tell me how many stories you are telling me, you will never now how many stories you are telling me.) El amor es una locura que solo el cura lo cura, pero el cura que lo cura comete una gran locura. (Love is a great lunacy that only a priest can cure, but the priest who cures it commits a great lunacy.) Tongue Twisters Featuring Soft Consonant Sounds Ñoà ±o Yà ±ez come à ±ame en las maà ±anas con el nià ±o. (Ñoà ±o Yà ±ez eats yams in the mornings with the boy.)  ¡Esmerà ­lemelo! (Polish it for me.) Eugenio es muy ingenuo.  ¡quà © genio tiene el ingenuo de Eugenio! (Eugene is very naive. What genius has the naivete of Eugene!) Busco al vasco bizco brusco. (Im looking for the rude cross-eyed Basque.) El nià ±o est sosegado.  ¿Quià ©n lo desasosegar? El desasosegador que lo desasosiegue, buen desasosegador ser. (The child is tranquil. Who will disturb him? The disturber who disturbs him will be a good disturber.) Si don Curro ahorra ahora, ahora ahorra don Curro. (If Curro is saving now, now is Curro saving.) El suelo est enladrillado.  ¿Quià ©n lo desenladrillar? El desenladrillador que lo desenladrillare un buen desenladrillador ser. (The ground is paved with bricks. Who will unpave it? The unpaver who unpaves it a good unpaver will be.) Tres tristes tigres comà ­an trigo en tres tristes platos sentados en un trigal. (Three sad tigers were eating wheat on three sad plates placed in a wheat field.) Por la calle Carretas pasaba un perrito; pasà ³ una carreta, le pillà ³ el rabito.  ¡Pobre perrito, como lloraba por su rabito! (A puppy walked through Carretas street; a cart passed by and ran over his dear tail. Poor puppy, how he cried for his dear tail!) La sucesià ³n sucesiva de sucesos sucede sucesivamente con la sucesià ³n del tiempo. (The successive series of events occurs successively with the succession of time.)