ACTUAL ONLINE SESSION
Basic Stenography 1 by: John Robert Gregg
The value of Shorthand
Gregg Shorthand is one of the most valuable subjects you will ever learn. There are several
reasons why such a powerful statement is true.
First of all, shorthand is a lifelong personal skill which relieves one from the drudgery of
writing longhand. Shorthand makes it possible for most people to write three or four times faster
than their longhand writing speed. Over a lifetime, this saves a tremendous amount of time.
Lesson 1 (Day 1)
1. Shorthand is written by sound; thus aim is written am (long sound of a), cat is written
kat, knee is written ne.
CONSONANTS
2. The Consonants are arranged in pairs, according to their affinity of sound, and are
distinguished by a difference in length.
The characters for the consonants in this lesson are derived from an elliptical
figure, thus:
Letter/s Signs Words Letter Signs Words
K can T it, at
G go, good D would
R are, our, hour H . a, an
L will, well Th the, there
N in, not their
M am, more I
He
F fore, for, four
V have B by, been, be
P A a, an
E I long i
J Judge O
S W
The symbol for “sh” and “CH”
The symbol for “shun” and “tion”
The signs for “S”
The signs for “S” written downward, are taken form a small elliptical figure, thus:
The right motion “S” is called “right S”
The left motion “S” is called “left S”
In practical writing the sound of “Z” is expressed by the sign for “S”, since no confusion
arises using the same character for both sounds in connected writing. We already are
accustomed to writing and readind “S” for “Z” in English, as in “rays”, “praise”
It is seldom necessary to make a distinction between “S” and “Z”, but when it is,
a shord dash is struck at a right angle to the sign for “S” to show that it has the sound
of “Z”.
RACE RAISE GAS GAZE
Initial and Final “S”. I before and after p, b, r, and l, and after t, d, n, m, and o,
the left “S” used
SIPS PHRASE DAZE SABLES
SLIM KNEES SERIES TEASE
In all other cases the right “S” is used:
SAVES SEEDS SASHES SEEKS
SNAP SKETCHES STAFF SMASH
A circled placed outside the angle in any of these joinings does not change the
motion.
SELL SPELL SALARY SALE
SPREAD SELF PIECE SPARE
TRACE DRESS LESS BUSY
SLIP CRAZY PRESS SLEEP
ASLEEP SALES AS SAY
3. All these consonants are written forward from left to right; th and t and d are struck
upwards from the line of writing. The g given in this lesson is called gay, being the
hard sound as in game, get, and not the soft sound heard in gem, magic. The
aspirate h is indicated by a dot placed over the vowel. Many frequently recurring
words are represented by simple alphabetic characters.
4. Phrasing. The joining of simple words is a great help to accuracy and speed in
Writing shorthand, and its acquirement should be deferred until the habit of writing
Common words separately has been formed.
I will He can It will In the
I can We can He will We will
5. Punctuation, etc. In shorthand the following marked are used:
Period paragraph interrogation dash hypen parenthesis
BRIEF FORMS (to remember)
THIS/THESE THAT THEY THE
THERE/THEIR WITH WITHOUT WITHIN
WHO WHEN WHERE WERE
COULD WOULD SHOULD SHALL
Capitals and proper names are indicated by two short dashes beneath the word.
(sounds of A, E, N, M, T, D, punctuation, paragraph and capitalization)
NAME SOUNDS EXPLANATION
NAME NAM e is silent
RIGHT RIT gh is silent
NAVY NAVE y sounds like e
STAY STA y is silent
FACE FAS c sounds like s
(A E N M WORDS)
The following words contain the long sounds of a, e, n, and m. The symbol for
each sound in a word are joined together to form a word, it is called outline.
ME MAIN AIM
MAY KNEE NAME
MEAN
SOUNDS OF T, D, words
DAY MATE TEAM
DATE MEET/MEAT TAME
DEED TEA ATE
MADE EAT AID/AIDE
WRECK RAG LAKE
KILL CREAM EAGLE
CRATE GLARE MAKER
CRANE GLEE ACRE
Lesson 2 (sounds of H – ing, long i)
The shorthand symbol for the sounds of h and -ing is a dot. The letter H which almost
always occurs at the beginning of a word, is represented by a dot placed above the
vowel.
The sound of -ing which almost always occurs at the end of a word, is represented by a
dot placed closed to the end of the body of the outline.
Example:
Meeting ___________
H, -ing Words
HE NAMING TAMING
HEAT MEETING HEADING
HEATING HATE DATING
H, -ing practice
PUNCTUATION AND PARAGRAPH SYMBOLS
Special symbols are used to represent the period and question mark at the end of a
sentence. Note that an ordinary commais used within a circle.
Period Hypen Question Mark Paragraph
Comma dash Exclamation point Left parenthesis
Semicolon colon right parenthesis
CAPITALIZED WORDS
May Dean Amy Nate
Steven Keith Smith Jane
LONG I Words
HIGH MINE NIGHT MY
TIE DIE/DYE MIGHT KITE
TIED DYING FLY TRY
CRY BRIGHT SLIGHT TIGHT
FIGHT BITE SIGHT/CITE/SITE LIGHT
NOW THAT YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE SHORTHAND ALPHABET,
WRITE YOUR NAME USING THE SHORTHAND ALPHABET
EX:
LEILA JANE KARA MARY
JOHN GRACE BETH KARYLLE
DENNIS CARL JANNA STACEY
