Australian English
How to pronounce Sydney suburbs: Woolloomooloo, Parramatta, Coogee and the rest (with audio)
Woolloomooloo is wull-uh-muh-LOO, weight on the last loo. Parramatta is parra-MAT-uh, and most people just say Parra. Coogee has a short oo, like book: KOOD-jee. Glebe is one syllable, gleeb. Macquarie Street is muh-KWORR-ee.
If you are working out how to pronounce Sydney suburbs from a train map, a rental listing or a job ad, you have found the problem already: the spelling and the sound do not match. Most of these names were written down by someone who had only just heard them, or borrowed from a village on the other side of the world.
Here is the quick list, then each name with the wrong version, the local version and a clip. Play it, say it back, move on.
The quick list: Sydney names and how locals say them
| Name | Say it | Not | Where it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woolloomooloo | wull-uh-muh-LOO | WOOL-oo-moo-loo | Harbourside, just east of the city |
| Parramatta | parra-MAT-uh, or Parra | PARRA-matta | Western Sydney, the second CBD |
| Coogee | KOOD-jee | COO-gee | Eastern beaches, south of Bondi |
| Bondi | BON-dye | bond-ee | Eastern beaches |
| Kirribilli | kirra-BILL-ee | kirri-BEE-lee | Under the north end of the bridge |
| Pyrmont | PEER-mont | PIE-mont | Across Darling Harbour from the city |
| Glebe | gleeb | GLEE-bee | Inner west, next to Sydney Uni |
| Balmain | BAL-mane | bal-MAHN | Inner west, on the harbour |
| Cronulla | kruh-NULL-uh | CRON-ulla | The Shire, down south |
| Kogarah | COG-ra | KOG-a-rah | St George area, south |
| Clovelly | kluh-VEL-ee | CLOVE-lee | Between Bronte and Coogee |
| Macquarie Street | muh-KWORR-ee | mac-KWAIR-ee | CBD, the Parliament House end |
| Castlereagh Street | KAS-ul-ray | castle-REE | CBD, between Pitt and Elizabeth |
| Goulburn Street | GOAL-bn | gull-BURN | CBD, the Chinatown end |
| Wynyard | WIN-yard | WINE-yard | CBD station |
| Greenwich | GREN-itch | GREEN-witch | Lower North Shore, on the water |
Bondi and Coogee have full entries on the ten most mispronounced place names in Australia. Everything else gets a clip below, where we have a recording.
Say it back to Bruce. The Aussie Talk app plays each name, you say it back, and Bruce tells you how you went. Get it on the App Store.
Woolloomooloo: wull-uh-muh-LOO
Woolloomooloo pronunciation stops people at the bus stop. Thirteen letters, eight of them O, and none of them tell you where the weight goes.
Wrong: "WOOL-oo-moo-loo", every syllable the same, or "wool-uh-MOO-loo" with the weight on moo.
Local: "wull-uh-muh-LOO". Four quick syllables, the first three barely there, and the weight lands on the last loo. Said fast it is closer to "wulla-ma-LOO". It is the harbourside pocket between the city and Kings Cross, with the Finger Wharf along one side.
Hear it
Woolloomooloo: wull-uh-muh-LOO
A Sydney local says Woolloomooloo.
Say it: "Can you drop me at the wharf in Woolloomooloo?"
The spelling trick (wool, loo, moo, loo)
Say it in four bits: wool, loo, moo, loo. Double O in each one, double L at the front. Sydney people use the same trick. Nobody spells it cold.
Where the name came from is debated. A few different Aboriginal words have been put forward and nobody has settled it, so anyone who tells you what it means is guessing.
Parramatta: parra-MAT-uh (or just Parra)
Parramatta is Sydney's second city centre, out west on the river, and you will say it a lot. Trains, buses, the Eels, half the job ads.
Wrong: "PARRA-matta" with the weight up front, or "para-MAR-ta" with a long middle.
Local: "parra-MAT-uh". Weight on MAT, short and flat, and the ending fades to uh. In everyday chat it is just Parra, and Parra is fine anywhere: Parra station, Parra Road, heading to Parra.
Hear it
Parramatta: parra-MAT-uh
A Sydney local says Parramatta.
Say it: "Does this train stop at Parramatta?"
Coogee: short oo, like book
Coogee has its own entry on the top ten page, so here is the short version.
Wrong: "COO-gee", with the coo of a pigeon and a hard G.
Local: "KOOD-jee". The first bit rhymes with good, and the G softens into a J. It is the beach at the far end of the coastal walk from Bondi.
Hear it
Coogee: KOOD-jee
A Sydney local says Coogee.
Say it: "Which bus gets me to Coogee Beach?"
Do not mix it up with Coogee in Perth
Perth has a Coogee too, down past Fremantle, and over there the oo is long, like rude: COO-jee. Same spelling, different sound. On this coast it is the short one.
Harbour and inner west names: Kirribilli, Pyrmont, Glebe, Balmain
Kirribilli: kirra-BILL-ee
Tucked under the north end of the Harbour Bridge.
Wrong: "kirri-BEE-lee", or two flat words, Kirri Billi.
Local: "kirra-BILL-ee". Four quick syllables, weight on BILL.
Say it: "Does this ferry stop at Kirribilli?"
Pyrmont: PEER-mont
Across Darling Harbour from the city, where the casino and the fish market are.
Wrong: "PIE-mont", or "pur-MONT" with the weight on the end.
Local: "PEER-mont". The first syllable rhymes with beer and takes the weight.
Say it: "We are staying in Pyrmont, near the casino."
Glebe: gleeb
Next to Sydney Uni.
Wrong: "GLEE-bee", two syllables, or "glebb" to rhyme with web.
Local: "gleeb". One syllable, long ee, like glee with a B on the end.
Say it: "Which bus goes down Glebe Point Road?"
Balmain: BAL-mane
The pub peninsula in the inner west, a short ferry from the Quay.
Wrong: "bal-MAHN", the French way, because of the fashion label. Different Balmain.
Local: "BAL-mane". Weight on BAL, and the end rhymes with rain. Preply's search-data study put it in the top ten most mispronounced places in the whole country.
Hear it
Balmain: BAL-mane
A Sydney local says Balmain.
Say it: "Does the ferry go to Balmain from Circular Quay?"
South and east: Cronulla, Kogarah, Clovelly
Cronulla: kruh-NULL-uh
The Shire's beach, at the end of its own train line.
Wrong: "CRON-ulla", weight up front, or "kroh-NOO-la" with a long middle.
Local: "kruh-NULL-uh". Weight on NULL, first syllable barely there. Some locals cut it to Nulla.
Hear it
Cronulla: kruh-NULL-uh
A Sydney local says Cronulla.
Say it: "Is Cronulla the last stop on this line?"
Kogarah: COG-ra
South of the city, with the big hospital and the Dragons' home ground.
Wrong: "KOG-a-rah", three syllables, all of them sounded.
Local: "COG-ra". Two syllables. The middle A drops out and the weight sits on COG.
Say it: "Is Kogarah on the same line as Hurstville?"
Clovelly: kluh-VEL-ee
The sheltered bay between Bronte and Coogee where people learn to snorkel.
Wrong: "CLOVE-lee", weight up front, like the spice.
Local: "kluh-VEL-ee". Weight on VEL, first syllable squashed.
Say it: "Can you snorkel at Clovelly in winter?"
CBD streets that catch people out: Macquarie, Castlereagh, Goulburn, Wynyard
Macquarie Street: muh-KWORR-ee
The street with Parliament House and the Mint on it, along the edge of the Botanic Garden.
Wrong: "mac-KWAIR-ee", rhyming with square, or "MACK-warry" with the weight up front.
Local: "muh-KWORR-ee". Weight in the middle, and the middle rhymes with sorry. Same for Macquarie Park, Macquarie University and Port Macquarie.
Hear it
Macquarie: muh-KWORR-ee
A local says Port Macquarie. Macquarie Street uses the same sound.
Say it: "Is Parliament House on Macquarie Street?"
Castlereagh Street: KAS-ul-ray
Runs through the middle of the city between Pitt and Elizabeth.
Wrong: "castle-REE", "castle-REEG", or any attempt to sound out the gh.
Local: "KAS-ul-ray". Castle, then ray. The gh is silent and the end rhymes with day.
Say it: "The office is on Castlereagh Street, near Martin Place."
Goulburn Street: GOAL-bn
The east-west street at the Chinatown end of the city. Same name as the town down the Hume.
Wrong: "gull-BURN" or "GOOL-burn", with the R sounded out.
Local: "GOAL-bn". Goal, then a swallowed bn, no R. You will hear a flatter "GUL-bn" from some Sydney people, and that passes too.
Say it: "Can you drop me at the Goulburn Street car park?"
Wynyard: WIN-yard
Not a suburb, but you will say it daily: the station at the north end of the city.
Wrong: "WINE-yard", like a vineyard.
Local: "WIN-yard". Win, not wine.
Say it: "Do I change at Wynyard for the North Shore line?"
Borrowed English names: Greenwich and the silent W
Greenwich sits on the lower North Shore, on the water near St Leonards, and it is the same trap as the London one.
Wrong: "GREEN-witch".
Local: "GREN-itch". The W is silent and the first syllable is short: gren, not green. Same deal with Woolwich, further along the river: WOOL-itch.
Say it: "Does the ferry go to Greenwich Point?"
Why Sydney names are tricky: three kinds of place names
Robert Mailhammer, an associate professor of linguistics at Western Sydney University, told Domain there are three kinds of place names in Australia, and each kind trips you a different way. The Domain piece is here.
The first are Aboriginal names. Settlers wrote down what they heard, and Aboriginal languages have sounds English does not, so they often misheard, and the spelling stuck. Woolloomooloo, Parramatta, Coogee, Kirribilli, Cronulla, Kogarah and Bondi all started this way. Parramatta was spelt three different ways early on before one won.
The second are borrowed names, carried out from Britain and Ireland and used again. Greenwich, Clovelly and Glebe are in this pile. They mostly kept the old country's pronunciation, but not always, so even the English get caught.
The third are names that honour a person. Macquarie, Castlereagh, Goulburn, Wynyard and Balmain are governors, lords, officers and a surgeon, and the spelling is whatever the man's name was.
One more thing on the first group. Those names were here before the streets were, so say them properly and do not make jokes about them. And if it is a Sydney suburb name's meaning you are after, be wary of anyone who gives you one without showing where they got it. The NSW Government's page on Aboriginal place naming is the place to start.
Say it, hear it, say it again
Reading wull-uh-muh-LOO gets you halfway. Hearing it said gets you the rest.
Play the clip, say it back twice, then use it the same day. The pronunciation practice in the Aussie Talk app does the same thing with a scorecard: it plays each name, you say it back, and Bruce tells you how you went. Do the table above on the train in and you will be saying Parra and Wynyard like you have lived here for years.
Next up: the ten most mispronounced place names in Australia, where Cairns, Melbourne and Bondi live.
Questions about Sydney suburb names
How do you pronounce Woolloomooloo?
Wull-uh-muh-LOO. Four quick syllables, weight on the last one.
What's the trick to spelling Woolloomooloo?
Wool, loo, moo, loo. Double O in each bit, double L at the start.
Do people say Parra instead of Parramatta?
All the time. Parra is fine on the platform and at work.
How do you say Coogee?
KOOD-jee, with a short oo like book.
Is the W in Greenwich silent in Sydney?
Yes. GREN-itch, same as London.
Why are Sydney place names hard to pronounce?
Many come from Aboriginal words written down by English speakers who misheard them, others are borrowed British names, and English spelling rarely matches the sound anyway.
Where can I hear these names said by a local?
Woolloomooloo, Parramatta, Coogee, Balmain, Cronulla and Macquarie have clips on this page. Have a yarn with Bruce in the Aussie Talk app and practise saying these.
