Top 10 Mispronounced Places in Toronto: Are You Saying These Incorrectly?

Isn’t it the worst when you live in Toronto, and pronounce names of famous places in this city incorrectly? Whether making this mistake to friends, family, co-workers, or anyone, it can be embarrassing!

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To help save you from this situation: language learning platform Preply has released a list of the top 10 most mispronounced places in Toronto, and how to say them correctly.

1. Toronto

• Correct: tuh-ronno
• Incorrect: toe-ron-toe

According to Preply: “Pronouncing the second ‘t’ in Toronto is also a giveaway that you don’t live in Toronto”. Yikes!

2. Geoffrey

A residential street in Toronto’s west-end, pronounced differently than its spelling.

• Correct: jeh-free
• Incorrect: gee-off-free

3. Etobicoke

The ‘k’ is silent. ‘Etobico’ instead of pronouncing it Etobi-coke.

• Correct: et-toh-bee-co
• Incorrect: et-a-ba-co-key

Fun fact: The name Etobicoke is derived from the Ojibwe word wadoopikaang: a place where older trees grow.

4. Yonge

Pronounced Young Street.

• Correct: young
• Incorrect: YUN-ji

Tip: Don’t make it rhyme with sponge.

5. Wellesley

Don’t let the second ‘e’ throw you off.

• Correct: WELLZ-ly
• Incorrect: well-LESS-ly

Fun Fact: If you commute on the TTC, it will be hard to avoid this word.

6. grosvenor

The ‘s’ is silent.

• Correct: gro-vner
• Incorrect: gross-vee-nor

Tip: It should sound almost like the English word ‘guv-ner’!”

7. The Esplanade

• Correct: thuh esplan-aad
• Incorrect: thuh esplan-AID

8. Strachan

• Correct: strawn
• Incorrect: strak-en

Tip: correct spelling rhymes with yawn.

9. Spadina

• Correct: spuh-dee-nah
• Incorrect: spuh-die-nah

Fun Fact: While you might say ‘spuh-die-nah,’ spuh-dee-nah is the true historical pronunciation.

10. Roncesvalles

• Correct: rawn-SES-vay-yez
• Incorrect: rawn-SEZ-vales

Fun Fact: Some say Rawn-sez-valls; others insist it ends with ‘vale.’ Others call it Roncy. 

Congratulations, you’re a pronunciation master now!

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