UPDATE: Edited cheatsheet 10/03/19. Changes: Fixed typos/errors, entered missing entries, clarified/made more concise some rules, re-alphabetized some entries that were clumped together.

A few weeks ago I compiled a cheatsheet of the Simplified abbreviation principles (as well as some alphabetic stuff that I was having trouble remembering). My copy of the 2nd edition Simplified Manual lacks a table of contents entirely, the index is sadly incomplete (the downfall of manual indexing back in the day, I suppose), and I don’t always  have it with me. I wasn’t able to find anything similar on the web (but maybe it exists?). I printed this cheatsheet up in booklet form with some lines between each entry to write examples of each principal, and stuck it in the back of my everyday notebook along with the brief forms for quick reference while journaling. I thought I’d share it in rough draft form here, in case someone else finds it useful.

I attempted to keep the description of each rule as concise as possible (which means that in some cases I describe it differently than in the Simplified manual, but it hopefully amounts to the same thing). If anyone has any corrections, additions, or suggestions for clearer descriptions, please feel free to offer them! I already found some missing bits and errors on my earliest draft that I’ve since added or corrected.

Some usage notes:

• The cheatsheet is organized alphabetically (by the bit being abbreviated, not the abbreviation)
• There’s some phrasing principles in here, but not a complete list of phrases.
• An asterisk (*) stands for a wildcard vowel.
• A hyphen at the beginning of the entry indicates it’s a suffix
• A hyphen at the end of an entry indicates it’s a prefix
• > indicates “after” (except in at least one case it actually means “more than”)
• < indicates “before”
• ≠ means “not”
• ^ indicates “above”

~~~

Gregg Simplified Cheatsheet

A

-able > be/been : a
after- : af
“ago” in phrases : g
ah-/aw- : dot
al- : o hook
-ation > t/d/n/m : sh (-a; drop big circle)

B

be- : b
“been” in phrases > have/has/had: b
-*ble : b
bound/pound : -d

C

-*cal/-*cle : disjoined k
-cate : k (-ate)
-cial : sh
-ciency : shse
-cient : sht
circum- : disjoined left s
con-/com- < consonant ≠ r/l : k
con-/com- < r/l : kn or km
-ct : -t

D

ded/det/dit : td
def/dif/dev/div: df blend
de- < k/g : de
de- ≠ < k/g: d
dem : dm blend
den : dn blend
derm/dern : -r
dis-/des- : ds

E

ea : Ꙩ
-ed (past tense) > abbreviated word : disjoined t
elect*- : disjoined el ^ following character
electric < noun : disjoined el ^ following character
em-/im- < consonant : m
em-/im- < vowel : em/im
en- < consonant : n
en- < vowel : en
enter-/entr*- : disjoined n ^ following character
-er > abbreviated word : disjoined r
-est > abbreviated word/vowel : disjoined st
ex- : es

F

for-/fore-/fur- : f
-ful (including > abbreviated word) : f

G

-gate : g (-ate)
-gram : disjoined g

H

-hood : disjoined d

I

ia : Ꙩ
-ification : disjoined f
-ify : f
-ily/-ally : loop
incl*- : disjoined ° ^ following character
in- < consonant: n
in- < vowel: in
-ing : dot at end of word
-ingly : disjoined circle in place of dot
-ings : left s instead of dot
inter-/intro- : disjoined n ^ following character
i* : ° inside O
“is not”/”was not” w/ left s : nt blend
“is not” w/ right s : n
-ist > abbreviated word/vowel : disjoined st
-ition > t/d/n/m : sh (-i; drop small circle)
-ive > abbreviated word : joined v
-ivity > abbreviated word: joined vte

J

jent/jend/pent/pend : jend blend

L

ld : l w/ upward turn
-less : l
-lity : disjoined l
-lty : disjoined l
-ly (including > abbreviated word): joined °

M

md/mt : md blend
men/mem : mn
-ment : m
mind/mand/mend/mond : -d
min/mon/mun : mn
mis- : ms
misunderstand/stood : drop oo-hook write stnd under disjoined ms
moun : mn

N

nd/nt : nt blend
-*ntic : nt blend

O

-ology : ol
-or > abbreviated word : disjoined r
ort : -r
-*ous : us (see -uous)
“over” : o-hook high
ow between n-n : jog
ow < n : omit

P

past tense > abbreviated word : disjoined t
per-/pur-/pro- : pr
-pose : po
-position : posh
post- : disjoined p on line of writing

Q

-quire : kai

R

rd : r w/ upward turn
re- < downstroke/vowel : r
re- < upstroke/forward stroke : re
-rity : disjoined r

S

self- : disjoined left s
-self : s
-selves : ss
ses : ss
-ship : disjoined sh
short-/ship- : disjoined sh ^ following character
-sion/shion : sh
-st in words > 1 syllable : -t (exceptions: see -ist & -est)
-st in best, cost, first, last, past, rest, test : -t
sub- : s
-sume : sm
-sumption : smsh
super-/supr*- : disjoined comma s ^ following character
sw- : s+oo-hook

T

tain/ten : dn blend
ted/tod : td
tem : dm blend
tend/dend : -d
term/tern/therm/thern : -r
-ther : th
-tial : sh
-tion : sh
-*titude : t (-itude)
tive/tif : df blend
“to” in phrases < downstroke : t
trans- : disjoined t ^ following character
-tribute : trib (-ute)
-tual : tl
-ture : tr

U

-ual > downstroke: ul
-ual > upstroke/forward stroke : l
-ulate : disjoined oo-hook
-ulation : disjoined oo-sh
ul < forward/upward stroke : oo-hook
un- < consonant: n
un- < vowel: un
“under” : oo-hook high
“understand/stood” : drop oo-hook if < short/common phrase
-uous : uus
-ure > downstroke: ur
-ure > upstroke/forward stroke : r
-use : iu
u (short) < n/m/downstroke : omit

W

“want” in phrases : nt blend
-ward : disjoined d
“w” in body of a word : short dash under vowel
w- : oo-hook

Y

ya : large loop
ye : small loop
y < o/oo-hook : ° joined to o/oo-hook

 

Proper Name Terminations
————————
-burg : b
-field : f
-ford : fd
-ingham : disjoined m
-ington : disjoined tn blend
-port : p
-ton : tn blend
-town : t-n
-ville : v

 

 

 

Copyright Notice

Gregg Shorthand Simplified is copyright John Robert Gregg, Louis A. Leslie, and Charles E. Zoubek. Principles from Gregg Shorthand Simplified are presented here under Fair Use for educational and research purposes. As long as you respect the original copyright, please feel free to share and remix this compilation for personal and educational use.