Sumomo mo Momo mo — Japanese Tongue Twister

すもももももももものうち (Sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi)

すもももももももものうち (Sumomo mo momo mo momo no uchi)

Both plums and peaches are types of peach

Why Is It Hard?

This sentence is almost entirely built from mo and momo sounds. The word for plum (sumomo), the word for peach (momo), and the particle mo (also) all blur together at speed. It is grammatically correct Japanese but sounds like a sound machine rather than a sentence.

History

Sumomo mo momo mo is frequently cited as the ultimate Japanese tongue twister. It appears in dictionaries of hayakuchi kotoba and is used as a linguistics example to show how Japanese particle grammar can create unintentional phonetic loops. Children love it because it sounds almost nonsensical even though it makes perfect sense.

Tips for Saying It

• Write it out: identify each word boundary before speaking.
• Slow practice first — sumomo / mo / momo / mo / momo / no / uchi.
• Clap on every mo to keep track of where you are.

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