Thin sticks, thick bricks
Four words: two start with TH, two with ST and BR, and every one ends in K or KS. It is one of the shortest ways to check your TH, because the sound sits right next to S and T, the two sounds it most often turns into.
Thin sticks, thick bricks.
More tongue twisters for the same sounds
- Keith's birthday is the thirteenth of this month.
- This thing, that thing, these things, those things.
- Both athletes thought the fifth lap was the toughest.
- Neither brother thinks the other is worth the bother.
- Thirty thirsty sailors sailed south, though the weather was rough.
- Thursday's math test was the third this month and the thirtieth this year.
Other famous tongue twisters for these sounds
Where to breathe
- Thin sticks,
- thick bricks.
Where TH slips into S and T
The TH in “thin” and “thick” is the voiceless one, as in “think”: the tip of the tongue lightly touches the edge of the upper teeth, and air flows over it without voice. Right after it comes “sticks”, where the tongue tip moves up to the ridge for S. That jump is small, so under speed the two positions merge.
The result is “sin sticks” or “tin sticks”, and on the second half “sick bricks” or “tick bricks”. If you learned English as a second language, you may also hear “fin” and “fick”, because F is the other common stand-in for TH.
The endings matter as well. “Sticks” and “bricks” end in a KS cluster, and “thick” ends in K. When you rush, those endings get swallowed and the line becomes “thin stih, thih brih”.
How to practice it
Use a mirror. On every TH, you should see the tip of your tongue at the edge of the teeth. On S, it should disappear behind them. Say “thin, sin, thin, sin” and “thick, tick, thick, tick” until the difference is easy to feel and see.
Then build the line: “thin sticks”, pause, “thick bricks”. Make the KS at the end of each pair audible, as if the listener had to count the sticks and bricks.
When the four words are clear, say the line three times in a row, then five. Speed up only while the tongue still shows on each TH. A whisper version is useful too: TH and S both work without voice, so in a whisper any mix-up between them is easy to hear.
Questions about this tongue twister
- Why do I say sin instead of thin?
- Your tongue is staying behind the teeth. S and TH are made very close to each other; the only difference is that for TH the tip comes forward to the teeth. Slow pairs like “thin, sin” and a mirror usually fix it within a few sessions.
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.