The Erre Con Erre Cigarro Tongue Twister
Erre con erre cigarro, erre con erre barril. Rápido corren los carros cargados de azúcar del ferrocarril.
Why Is It So Hard?
This trabalenguas is a direct test of the Spanish trilled double-r (erre), one of the hardest sounds in the language for non-native speakers and challenging even for native speakers at speed. The first line fires four trilled ‘rr’ sounds: erre, erre, cigarro, erre, erre, barril. Then “ferrocarril” at the end demands two more trills in rapid succession within a single word. Between the trills, words like “rápido,” “corren,” and “carros” include the single-tap ‘r,’ so the tongue must switch between trill and tap throughout.
History
“Erre con Erre Cigarro” is one of the most famous Spanish-language tongue twisters, used in classrooms across Spain and Latin America to teach the distinction between the trilled ‘rr’ and the tapped ‘r.’ The second line, mentioning the “ferrocarril” (railway), almost certainly dates the verse to the 19th century, when railways became widespread across the Spanish-speaking world. It appears in elocution manuals and children’s textbooks across multiple generations, with no single author attributed.
Tips for Saying It
- If the trill is difficult, practise a sustained “dddrrr” tongue flap against the alveolar ridge before starting.
- Say “ferrocarril” alone ten times first, since that word contains the hardest combination in the whole twister.
- Clap the rhythm: ERRE-con-ERRE keeps the two trills evenly spaced and stops the tempo from rushing.
Más Trabalenguas / More Tongue Twisters
¿Quieres más? Explore our full collection of tongue twisters in Spanish and other languages.
- Spanish Tongue Twisters — the complete trabalenguas collection
- Erre con Erre Cigarro — the most famous Spanish tongue twister
- Tres Tristes Tigres — three sad tigers classic
- Hard Tongue Twisters — the most challenging twisters in any language