"def-v/tive" makes sense as a consonant blend, but the brief form for "this" is so unintuitive. I'd expect a th followed by the upper s shape, thought maybe that's not as fast as extending it, since it's such a common word. And maybe it's smaller than "def-v/tive"? How do you keep track of some of the subtle relative sizes being primary differences between shorthand blends, like "th" vs "ten"?
Great question! I hear you... it definitely can be confusing. The "intuitive" form of the word [this] that you would think to write (a th followed by the upper "s" shape), is actually a brief form for "those"... you will learn this later.
Therefore, the form for the word "this" would be written with the right-motion "s". When writing at speed, it's hard to control the size of that stroke so it became a blend.
To differentiate/keep track, usually the writing line/space is used to tell them apart.
The blend for "This" is the smallest hook, the [tive +] blend might reach just past the centerline, and [def-v] might occupy the whole space. This is a convention I have adopted in my own writing, although in practice, they might all be similar sizes anyway. Most of the understanding comes from context.
I've picked up on that haha, it definitely seems to be part of the style to have to distinguish nuances by context. Do you happen to know how much that impacts writing vs reading speed compared to longhand?
How can I start at lesson 0. ???
Hey Mimi! You can find all the lessons posted in the archive at the following link:
https://learngreggshorthand.substack.com/archive
I just noticed that I didn't add the updated link to this lesson, so thanks for pointing that out! It should be fixed now. :)
"def-v/tive" makes sense as a consonant blend, but the brief form for "this" is so unintuitive. I'd expect a th followed by the upper s shape, thought maybe that's not as fast as extending it, since it's such a common word. And maybe it's smaller than "def-v/tive"? How do you keep track of some of the subtle relative sizes being primary differences between shorthand blends, like "th" vs "ten"?
Great question! I hear you... it definitely can be confusing. The "intuitive" form of the word [this] that you would think to write (a th followed by the upper "s" shape), is actually a brief form for "those"... you will learn this later.
Therefore, the form for the word "this" would be written with the right-motion "s". When writing at speed, it's hard to control the size of that stroke so it became a blend.
To differentiate/keep track, usually the writing line/space is used to tell them apart.
The blend for "This" is the smallest hook, the [tive +] blend might reach just past the centerline, and [def-v] might occupy the whole space. This is a convention I have adopted in my own writing, although in practice, they might all be similar sizes anyway. Most of the understanding comes from context.
Hope this helps!
I've picked up on that haha, it definitely seems to be part of the style to have to distinguish nuances by context. Do you happen to know how much that impacts writing vs reading speed compared to longhand?