“Am Zehnten” Tongue Twister
Am zehnten zehnten um zehn Uhr zehn zogen zehn zahme Ziegen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo.
Translation: On the tenth of October at ten past ten, ten tame goats pulled ten hundredweight of sugar to the zoo.
Why Is It Hard?
This Zungenbrecher targets the German Z-sound — which is pronounced as a sharp TS, unlike the soft Z in English. Words like zehn, zahme, Ziegen, Zentner and Zoo all begin with this TS sound, demanding rapid-fire tongue-to-teeth contact. The additional complexity of zehnten zehnten (tenth tenth — meaning the 10th of October) forces the same syllable back to back.
History
Am Zehnten is a staple of German primary school speech practice, used specifically to drill the German Z-sound that learners — especially English speakers — consistently mispronounce as a soft Z rather than a sharp TS. The vivid image of ten goats dragging sugar to a zoo makes it memorable and easy to visualise, which aids both recall and pacing. It remains widely used in German-language classrooms across Europe.
Tips for Saying It
- Master the German Z first: it is always TS, never soft. Say zehn as ‘tsehn’ not ‘zehn’.
- Zehnten zehnten is the opening trap — say it three times alone before attempting the full sentence.
- The goat-sugar-zoo image is your memory anchor: picture ten goats hauling a cart of sugar bags and the rhythm comes naturally.
More German Tongue Twisters
Discover more tongue twisters from around the world:
- German Tongue Twisters — the complete Zungenbrecher collection
- Wenn Fliegen — another great German twister
- Hard Tongue Twisters — the most challenging twisters of all