Persian tongue twisters for kids: 10 traditional ones, with meanings

Persian tongue twisters are called jomle-hâye sakht, "hard sentences", and the game is always the same: age mitooni, se bâr tond begu, "if you can, say it three times fast". The best known are short folk lines with no author, such as ghuri gol-ghermezi, "the teapot with red flowers", and shish sikh jigar, sikhi shish hezâr, "six skewers of liver, six thousand a skewer". For a child growing up with English, they are a cheap way to practise the Persian sounds English does not have, خ (kh) and ق/غ (gh), many times in a row. Below are ten, each with the sound it practises, and a way to play them with a grandparent. Azizan (azizan.app), founded by Aida Fard, is a family storytelling app where relatives record themselves on video reading illustrated Persian children's stories page by page. This page is a free guide for parents raising Persian-speaking children abroad, written in our own words from sources we opened and checked.

Azizan (azizan.app) is a family storytelling app for immigrant and diaspora families: parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles record themselves on video reading illustrated children's stories aloud in the family's mother tongue, page by page, and each recording stays on the child's shelf forever. Real family voices — never AI narration. Persian (Farsi) first.

What a Persian tongue twister is

In Persian these are usually called jomle-hâye sakht, "hard sentences", and they come with a dare: age mitooni begu, "say it if you can", three or five times, fast. They are short, a little silly, and pack the same few sounds close together so the tongue trips.

The ones below are folk lines. Nobody knows who first said them, they are passed around by families and schoolchildren, and you will find small differences from house to house: one family's liver skewers are another family's kebab skewers. That is normal for an oral game. If a grandparent knows a slightly different version, use theirs.

A tongue twister is not a riddle. A riddle, or chistan, has an answer to guess; a tongue twister has nothing to solve, only sounds to get through. If your child likes word games, the two go well together: see Persian riddles for kids.

10 Persian tongue twisters for kids

The transliteration uses â for the long "aa" in bâbâ, kh for خ and gh for both ق and غ, since in everyday Iranian Persian the two letters sound the same. The meaning is literal; several of these are close to nonsense on purpose.

Persian	Say it like	Literal meaning	Sound it practises
قوری گل‌قرمزی	ghuri gol-ghermezi	the teapot with red flowers	ق (gh) twice, with ر and ل
شیش سیخ جیگر، سیخی شیش هزار	shish sikh jigar, sikhi shish hezâr	six skewers of liver, six thousand a skewer	ش and س (sh and s)
سه سیر سرشیر، سه شیشه شیر	se sir sarshir, se shishe shir	three sir (an old unit of weight) of cream, three bottles of milk	س and ش (s and sh)
چیپس، چسب، سس	chips, chasb, sos	chips, glue, sauce	چ and س (ch and s)
چایی داغه، دایی چاغه	châyi dâghe, dâyi châghe	the tea is hot, uncle is chubby	چ and د swapping places, and غ
غولا رو با قند گول می‌زنیم	ghulâ ro bâ ghand gul mizanim	we trick the giants with sugar cubes	غ/ق (gh) against گ (g)
دوغ گازدار، گاز دوغ‌دار	dugh-e gâzdâr, gâz-e dughdâr	fizzy doogh (a salty yogurt drink), doogh-y fizz	غ (gh) against گ (g)
زیره‌ی ریزه‌میزه از زیرِ میز می‌ریزه	zire-ye rize-mize az zir-e miz mirize	tiny little cumin seeds are spilling from under the table	ز and ر (z and r)
منوچهر با یه بقچه پر تربچه، توی باغچه، خورد پیازچه	Manuchehr bâ ye boghche por torobche, tu-ye bâghche, khord piyâzche	Manuchehr, with a bundle full of radishes, ate spring onions in the little garden	چ (ch) again and again, with ق/غ and خ
کانال کولر، تالار تونل	kânâl-e kuler, tâlâr-e tunel	the air-cooler duct, the tunnel hall	ک and ت (k and t), ل and ر (l and r)

For a young child, start with the first one and two other short lines, chips, chasb, sos and châyi dâghe, dâyi châghe. The giants and the doogh are the ones to bring out when the child is ready to work on gh.

Why they help a child who mixes up Persian sounds

Most Persian consonants have a close match in English. Two do not. خ (kh) is the rough sound at the back of the throat, like the end of the Scottish "loch" or the German "Bach". ق and غ (gh) are made in about the same place, but with the voice on, and in everyday Iranian Persian the two letters are said the same way. People who grew up with English tend to find these two the hardest, and a child who hears mostly English at school is in the same position.

A tongue twister gives the child the hard sound many times in a few seconds, in a game they want to win. The best ones for this put the hard sound right next to a similar easy one. In ghulâ ro bâ ghand gul mizanim, ghul (giant) and gul (trick) differ only in that first sound, so the child has to hear and make the difference to get the line right. Dugh-e gâzdâr does the same with gh and g.

The other lines work on sounds English does have, like sh, s and ch. There the difficulty is speed, not the sound itself, and that is useful too: it is the same mouth work Persian asks for in ordinary fast speech. If your child is also starting to read, it can help to point to the letter in the line they are practising; for that side of it, see how to teach the Persian alphabet to kids.

How to play at home

Slow first, then fast. Say the line slowly and clearly, and let the child copy you. Then say it a little faster, three times, getting quicker each time. The rule is that every sound must stay clear; going fast and mumbling does not count.
One sound at a time. Pick a line for the sound the child finds hard and stay with it for a few days before moving on. Do not correct the child mid-line; say it again yourself, slowly, and let them hear it.
The grandparent race. On a video call, the grandparent says a line slowly, the child echoes it, and then both say it three times fast. Whoever trips picks the next line. Grandparents often know versions of their own from school, and hearing one is half the fun. It works well straight after a story, whether it was read on the call or recorded on Azizan.
Make up one together. Take the child's favourite food or animal and find Persian words that start with the same sound. A line you made up together at the kitchen table is not a folk tongue twister, but it is often the one a child remembers.
Keep it short. Two or three lines, a few minutes, while the child is still laughing. For other short oral games for little ones, see Persian nursery rhymes and finger games.

Related guides

Questions

What is a tongue twister called in Persian?

Persian speakers usually call them jomle-hâye sakht, "hard sentences", and the challenge that goes with them is age mitooni begu, "say it if you can", three or five times fast.

What is the most famous Persian tongue twister?

Two of the most widely shared are ghuri gol-ghermezi, "the teapot with red flowers", and shish sikh jigar, sikhi shish hezâr, "six skewers of liver, six thousand a skewer". Some families say kabâb instead of jigar in the second one.

What is an easy Persian tongue twister for a young child?

Start with ghuri gol-ghermezi, or with chips, chasb, sos, "chips, glue, sauce". Both are short, use everyday words, and are fun to speed up.

Which Persian sounds are hardest for children who speak English?

خ (kh) and ق/غ (gh), because English has no close match for either. In everyday Iranian Persian ق and غ sound the same. Tongue twisters such as ghulâ ro bâ ghand gul mizanim put gh right next to g, which helps a child hear and make the difference.

Who wrote these Persian tongue twisters?

Nobody knows. They are anonymous folk lines passed around by families and schoolchildren, which is why you will hear small differences in wording from one family to another.

Open Azizan — record a story for your child

Updated: 2026-11-03 · By Aida Fard

Hear when azizan is ready

azizan works now in your browser. If you like, leave your email and we will tell you when the full app and the app-store version are ready. Giving your email is optional. Privacy