The Tongue Twister
The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
Why Is It Hard?
Every single word contains TH. Not all TH sounds are the same though. The TH in the and that is soft and voiced. The TH in thirty, thieves, thought, thrilled, throne, and throughout is stronger and less voiced. Thursday ends with a Z-like sound on the -day. Your tongue is pressed against your teeth for virtually the entire phrase.
History and Origin
This is a classic advanced TH tongue twister used widely in speech therapy and accent reduction courses. It is particularly useful for speakers who substitute D for voiced TH or F for unvoiced TH, common patterns in many world Englishes. The mention of Thursday as the day adds a memorable specificity that helps speakers recall and practise it regularly.
Tips for Saying It
Voiced TH (the, that, they): tongue between teeth with a hum. Unvoiced TH (thieves, thought, throne): tongue between teeth, just air. Thrilled and throughout both start with THR, a three-sound cluster. Say thirty-three thieves alone until smooth. Then thought that they, then thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
Explore more tongue twisters on our site. Try the hard tongue twisters collection or browse tongue twisters for kids. Check out the full English tongue twisters list for more classics.