Lesson 1: Learn Gregg Shorthand

Learning K, G, R, L, N, M, T, D, H, the A/E groups, and brief forms

Below is the complete Gregg Shorthand alphabet, where each English sound is simplified into a stroke. Today, we’ll focus on the new strokes marked in orange. Let’s get started!

Shorthand Saves Time—Here’s How

Whatever your reasons for wanting to LEARN GREGG SHORTHAND, one of the main reasons we’re learning Gregg Shorthand is to save time when writing. One of the simplest ways to do that? Drop the letters we don’t pronounce.

Think about the word knee—we don’t actually pronounce the k or the e at the end, so in shorthand, we just write "ne" instead. Boom! We just cut our writing time in half. Same with a word like cattle—we say it more like katl, so why waste time writing extra letters we don’t use?

But there’s another trick to speed things up even more: simplifying letter shapes. Instead of writing out every letter the way we do in longhand, shorthand uses abbreviated versions of letters, often borrowing from their cursive forms.

By combining these two techniques—writing only what we pronounce and using simplified strokes—we can write faster, more efficiently, and with less effort. That’s the magic of shorthand!

Vowel Sounds in Shorthand

Gregg Shorthand simplifies vowels into twelve distinct sounds, grouped into four categories of three related sounds each. In this chapter, we’ll cover the first two: the A group and the E group. Mastering these groups will help you write faster and more efficiently by focusing on sound rather than spelling!

Note: Vowels in Gregg Shorthand are grouped by similarity in sound, not by traditional spelling. For example, the first sound in the E group is actually the short i (as in din), which is different from the long i (as in dine), which we’ll cover later.

To differentiate vowel lengths, a large circle represents three sounds of A:

• Short A – unmarked

• Medium A – marked with a dot

• Long A – marked with a short dash

This marking system applies uniformly across all vowel groups, though the dot and dash are rarely needed, except for clarity in unfamiliar words.

Shorthand Characters for R, L, A, and H

The shorthand symbols for R and L come directly from their cursive longhand forms.

The letter A is also similar to longhand but written without the connecting stroke.

The letter H is not written as a separate character; instead, it’s indicated by a dot placed above the vowel. This simplifies writing while keeping words easily recognizable.

Practice reading the following out loud:

(Solutions coming in an email later today where you can check your work!)

Shorthand Characters for N and M

The shorthand symbols for N and M are easy to remember—just imagine underscoring their longhand forms. This simple trick helps reinforce their shapes and makes them quick to recall while writing shorthand.

Shorthand Characters for K and G

The shorthand symbols for K and G are directly adapted from their longhand forms, making them easy to recognize and write quickly.

Shorthand Characters for T and D

In shorthand, T and D are written as follows:

Shorthand Character for E

Just like in longhand, e is written as a smaller circle than a, but in shorthand, it stands alone without connecting strokes, making it quicker and easier to write.

Homework:

Translate all the above examples and the following:

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That’s it for today! Be on the lookout for the solutions sent later today.

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See you in the next lesson!