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"Four is Four": Mandarin Chinese Tongue-Twister with Helena

3,861 views · Published 29 April 2017 · 5:31 · Indexed 27 October 2026

Channel: eChineseLearning · 2017 · Education

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Tongue-twisters are phrases that are difficult to pronounce in a certain language. They often include repeated sounds that will confuse the speaker.

In English, perhaps the most famous is:

She sells seashells on the seashore.
The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure.
For if she sells seashells on the seashore
Then I'm sure she sells seashore shells.

For Mandarin Chinese learners, there is one tongue-twister which will always bring nightmares. That is "四是四 (sì shì sì) 4 is 4"

四是四 (Sì shì sì) Four is four
十是十 (shí shì shí) ten is ten
十四是十四 (shísì shì shísì) fourteen is fourteen
四十是四十 (sìshí shì sìshí) forty is forty
十四不是四十 (shísì búshì sìshí) fourteen is not forty
四十不是十四 (sìshí búshì shísì) forty is not fourteen
四十四只石狮子! (sìshísì zhī shí shīzi!) forty-four stone lions!

Sound pretty easy? You try it!

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