If a dog chews shoes
A playful question that sounds like a riddle. Four words rhyme on the same long OO and Z ending, “chews”, “shoes”, “whose” and “choose”, and they start with CH, SH, H and CH. With the vowel and the ending the same, only the first sound tells them apart.
If a dog chews shoes, whose shoes does he choose?
More tongue twisters for the same sounds
- Sofia's husband chooses zesty sauces and seasons the soup with sea salt.
- Zoe's sister surely shouldn't share these secrets, so she says she's sorry and sits in silence.
- The sushi chef slices fresh salmon, sprinkles sesame seeds and serves six small dishes to the hungry guests.
- Zach's cautious sister says he shouldn't sell the seaside house, so he shares it with his six cousins each summer.
- The busy shop assistant shows shoppers six shirts, seven scarves and a dozen shiny zippers, and sells them all by sunset.
- The zoo's zebras doze in the sun, the seals splash in the shallow pool and the visitors' shoes squeak on the shiny stones.
Other famous tongue twisters for these sounds
- She sees cheese
- Selfish shellfish
- Sheep should sleep in a shed
- Sure the ship's shipshape, sir
- Irish wristwatch, Swiss wristwatch
- Six slippery snails
- Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches
- Should such a shapely sash
- A noisy noise annoys an oyster
- Swan swam over the sea
- Susie works in a shoeshine shop
- She sells seashells by the seashore
Where to breathe
- If a dog chews shoes,
- whose shoes does he choose?
Chews, shoes, whose, choose
The key pair is CH and SH. CH starts with a short stop, the tongue pressing the ridge behind the teeth, then releases. SH has no stop, just a steady hiss with the lips rounded. In “chews shoes” the two sit next to each other and the stop in CH is the first thing to go: “shoes shoes”.
“Whose shoes” is the second trap. The H in “whose” is soft and easy to drop, and then the SH of “shoes” jumps forward: “shoes shoes”. The question also ends with “choose”, which needs the CH back again.
All the rhyming words end with a Z sound, not S. When you hurry, the Z often turns into a hiss, and “chews shoes” becomes “chooce shooce”.
How to learn it
Drill the four rhyming words as a list: “chews, shoes, whose, choose”. Make the stop in each CH clear, as in “t-shoes”. Keep the Z buzzing at the end of every word.
Then split the line at the comma. The first half sets up the situation, the second asks the question. Breathe at the comma and let your voice rise on “choose”.
When both halves are clean, say the whole line three times on one breath. If the CH and SH start to merge, slow down and exaggerate the stop on CH for one round.
Questions about this tongue twister
- What is the answer to whose shoes does he choose?
- There is no real answer. Like many tongue twisters, it asks a question only to repeat its sounds.
- What is the difference between chews and choose?
- “Chews” is a form of “chew”, to bite food many times. “Choose” means to pick. In most accents they sound exactly the same, so only the meaning tells them apart.
Keep practicing
Practice with a timer
In DramaLab, the speed ladder is an exercise: it gives you tongue twisters one by one, walks you up the five steps and keeps time. No sign-up needed.