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Sounds/syllables/words omitted from a phrase are underlined
3. Omission
Omissions are shown by
an underline
(a) Omitting a
consonant
(b) Omitting a repeated sound
(c) Omitting a syllable or
part word
Omissions mostly occur
in the middle of a phrase, occasionally at the end of it, but never
at the beginning. Many of the phrases
reflect the way they are spoken, when a part can be slurred or
omitted, and yet the spoken sounds, and the shorthand phrase, are
both still easy to recognise. This helps in deciding which parts can
be safely omitted. It is not the purpose of Pitman's Shorthand to reflect
all instances of lax or slurred speech, but it does provide an
opportunity to create brief phrases without losing legibility.
(a) Omitting a
consonant
P |

ship builder |
B |

on behalf of |
T |

past year, past experience, post office, I trust
that

next door, next time,
last time, your last letter

best time, best
terms*,
best quality, best price
*Compare this with "business
terms" below

West End, West Indies, must
say, must have

must not, must never, must take compare
mistake

must also*, must receive, most likely
*The joined first vowel of "also" is omitted in phrases

most probable/probably, in most cases, most
excellent

most desirable, most undoubtedly, most necessary

take steps,
necessary steps, at cost price, lowest price

better still, medical student, shorthand student,
college student

critical stage, used to
be, used to have

at the earliest moment, at the earliest
opportunity, at the last minute
The short form "to be" can be
"borrowed"
for words that begin with the same sound. Writing through the line signifies the "oo"
vowel whilst omitting the T:

to be, to begin, to behave, to
belong

to being, to behold,
to beware compare to be aware |
K
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few weeks, past few weeks, several weeks,
many weeks |
F |

in fact
(compare
in effect), well-known fact

it is a well-known fact, as a matter
of fact, in spite of the fact, notwithstanding the fact
"Kt" not joined:

of the fact,
because of
the fact, to the fact that, due to
the fact that, in view of
the fact, lose
sight of the fact

owing
to the fact, significant fact, significance of the
fact, in the light of the
fact

in point of fact,
that is a fact, fact of the matter, from the fact that

telegraph
wire |
N |

yours sincerely*, yours most
sincerely*, foreign
affairs, Foreign Secretary
*Downward Ell for the sake of
lineality, despite the following vowel

has been considered, has been made, has
been mentioned*
*See
Phrasing 8 Intersections/mentioned

has been received, has been said compare
has to be said, is to be said

between them, between
this, between which, between now

one more, once more*, once
again
*The Circle S written
medially has to go in this direction, therefore the
direction cannot be taken as indicating an N Hook.

one thing, one hand, one
question

one another, on one
side, one way, one instance

one fourth, one fifth, one tenth
Do not omit the N hook of "one" if a
past-tense verb follows, as that would be confused with
"we"

we understood, we knew, we needed, we went

Keep the hook where helpful: one point, one of my, one of our,
one of us/his, one and all

generally speaking,
general secretary, general
election but election

human character, human life, home life

compare
human mind, human kind

take place/taken place, taken place*
compare
takes place
*The first outline
is textbook and covers both "take" and "taken", the second outline is a suggestion that omits the L Hook instead of the N Hook,
to provide a distinction. |
L
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first place*, feel sure, long life
*See also
Phrasing 5/Omission/first place |
R |

much more, any other, no other,
many other, than the other

from the other, and other conclusions, on the other, on
the other side of the, on the other hand
Compare:

some other, some of them, any of them, many of them

another of them, in the other, for the other

square = square feet, square yards, square inches

square miles, square metres/meters, square deal

Clearer in full:
square root,
square meals compare school meals
|
W |

last week, last weekend,
this
week, next week*
*Vowel shown for reference

previous week, six weeks,
six weeks' time |
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(b) Omitting a repeated sound
Omitting a repeated
sound, where the two are slurred together:

animal
life, social life, personal life

some
measure,
Prime Minister, in other respects

little longer
(but
lot longer), still longer, upside-down*
*Compare this with
up and down/Phrasing5

break cover but take
cover
to distinguish it from
take over*, over
*Vr is reversed so that it joins
well

Atlantic Coast, Pacific Coast, Baltic Coast
See also Phrasing 2/Shun Hook/Atlantic Ocean
Omitting repeated
stroke, even though the sounds are pronounced separately:

take
exception, make exception, zero rated, satisfactory reply,
satisfactory record, satisfactory response

satisfactory reason,
satisfactory result,
better
results, poor results, hardly
likely,

personal knowledge, personal injury, final analysis,
income
and expenditure With these, it is the
shorthand marks that would have been repeated, rather than the phrase having two
identical sounds in succession.

family life,
zero rated,
technical
college, technical college
Some of these can also
be used in other phrases:

making exceptions,
hardly possible, technical
terms, technical phrases

acceptable
results, reliable results, get results, will
result, it will
result
Bigger and bigger, etc:

bigger and bigger,
better and
better, deeper
and deeper, higher and higher, later
and later

more and
more, larger and larger, lower and lower, faster
and faster, nearer and
nearer

quicker and
quicker, worse and worse, years and years, such
and such, round and round, but
around and around
See also Phrasing 5/door to door
Word + or + negative:

directly or indirectly, correctly or incorrectly,
real or unreal, true or untrue

known
or unknown, willing or unwilling, sold
or unsold,
claimed or unclaimed
Top of page
(c) Omitting a syllable or
part of word

additional |

additional costs, additional expense, additional experience

additional work, additional information |

bishop |

Rev Bishop
See also
Phrasing 8
Intersections/Bishop |

British |

British Isles, British people, British Museum |

business |

business letter,
business man,
business experience,
business school

business matters, business
terms*,
business-like
manner
*Compare this with "best
terms" above

business relations,
business lines, lines of
business , line
of
business
See also
Phrasing 8
Intersections/business |
con- com- |

income tax
compare becoming shortcoming
forthcoming |
|
The Con Dot or proximity can be omitted and the outline just joined
on, for very common phrases only: |

consider
consideration
considered
considerate |

I will consider, you may consider, to consider
the, we have considered

cannot be considered, for consideration, for
your
consideration, great deal of consideration

carefully considered,
very
considered, very considerate, it is considered
See also
Phrasing 5
Omission/into
for similar "consider" phrases |

concern
concerned |

your concern, I am concerned, they are concerned, we are
concerned, you are concerned |

conclude concluded conclusion
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we have concluded, I concluded, come to the
conclusion, came to the conclusion

and in conclusion, logical
conclusion, my own conclusion

satisfactory conclusion, other conclusions,
necessary
conclusion |

consequence
consequences |

unexpected consequence, necessary consequence,
unforeseen consequences |

convenient |

as soon as convenient
See also
Phrasing 8
Intersections/convenient |

counsel |

counsel for the defence, counsel
for
the defendant, counsel for
the plaintiff
See also
Phrasing 8
Intersections/council |
|
"ex-" words = Although the X has been underlined, only the
Kay is omitted, the Circle S remains: |

expense
expenses |

personal expense, necessary
expense, heavy expenses, medical expenses |

examination
exam |

college examinations,
medical examination, medical exam |

experience |

personal experience, in our
experience, recent experience |

extent |

to a great extent, to a certain extent
but
to a large extent |

favourable |

favourable
circumstances, more favourable |

honourable |

Honourable Member, Honourable Senator, Honourable
Gentleman*,
Right Honourable
Gentleman *Write
the phrase on the
line for "gentlemen" |

inspector |

building inspector, hospital
inspector, inspector general

government
inspector
You could condense this further to gov+spector

railway inspector |

instruct instruction*
*Short Form |

I am instructing*,
they will be instructed, you will instruct
*Through the line because of the first vowel of
"instructing" even though the "in" part has been omitted
from the shorthand.

your instructions, further instructions
Inserting the dash vowel
helps to distinguish "instruction" from
considerations
above, which looks similar. |

instrument |

musical instrument, stringed
instrument, string instrument, surgical instrument |
-ly
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extremely pleased, extremely concerned,
extremely sorry, I am extremely sorry*
*Also omits the Kay

distinctly, distinctly understood, strictly speaking,
broadly speaking, abundantly clear

absolutely certain, absolutely sure, absolutely
necessary

perfectly sure, perfectly clear,
perfectly satisfactory |

pressure |

high pressure, low pressure, water pressure, blood pressure |

Majesty |

Your Majesty,
Her Majesty, His Majesty, Their Majesties |

manner |

in this manner, satisfactory manner,
reasonable manner, and in like manner

all manner,
all manner of ways,
such a manner, in such a manner as to*
*Using the short form "to"
at the end of a phrase is generally avoided, but here the meaning is clear

most
encouraging manner, in the same manner
compare for the same honour See also
Phrasing 6/Distinguishing
Pairs/manner |

month |

this
month, next month, during the month, end of the month

end
of this month, six months, six months' time, six months
ago*
*Vowel helpful but not essential See also
Phrasing 8 Intersections/month

three months, two month but many
months to keep it different from the plain outline months |

objection |

I have no objection, there are no objections, we have another
objection
J-Shun standing alone is also
the
optional contraction
for "generation" |

possible
possibly |

it is possible, it is not possible, it was not possible, it
is just possible

as
soon as possible, as long as possible, all we possibly can

as much as possible, as early as possible, as quickly as
possible, as good as possible If the speaker says the
abbreviated word "poss" then write it as a
separate vocalised outline:

poss, not poss, if poss |

property |

personal property, private property, freehold
property, lost property |

reason
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This is not so
immediately obvious or distinctive as other phrases, so keep for very common word
groupings and only if you are likely to use it frequently:

for this reason, there is no reason why, very
good
reason, every reason to believe
Don't use this for plural "reasons" as that
would look like
"sense":

good sense, good reasons, good
reason, what were the reasons If you write
"reason" in full, you can still
omit "the" where convenient:

what is the reason,
what is the reason, what was
the reason, what was the reason |

receipt |

I am in receipt of, we are in
receipt of your letter, I acknowledge receipt
of the |

receive
received |

I shall be glad to receive, expect/expected to
receive,
we have received,
has been received, not yet
received |

reference |

with reference to,
with reference to
the,
with reference to your enquiry,
with reference to this
application

in reference to, in reference
to the but
in the
face of the should be written in full to distinguish
it. |

regard |

as regards the, with regard
to the, in regard to the, in regard to
these matters but in full for
as far as as regards |

relation |

in relation to the, business relations, industrial
relations, normal relations,
friendly relations
|

reply
replied |

in reply to, in reply to your
letter, your reply, we will reply, I have replied |

report |

in my report, in our report, annual report,
school report, medical report |

requested |

I am requested to
send you, I am requested to send you, I
have been requested to send you
The Circle S is doing duty
for both S's in the above

you are requested to inform us*, you
will be requested, I am requesting
*Better not to omit the "re-"
in this one, so that the first Ray is properly read as
"are". |

successful |

very successful, most successfulDo not omit the L in "successful"
if standing alone, as that would look too much like "successive".
Keep to very common phrases where "successive" would not make sense.

successful, successfully,
successive, successively*
*Vowel advised

Compare also careful, carefully |

under review |

for the year under review,
during the year under review, at
the end of the year under review, period
under review |

movement
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upward movement, downward movement,
sideways
movement |
-ing |

standing order, existing circumstances,
stepping stone
Any new phrase that omit "-ing" needs careful consideration
before adoption:

leading question, lead-in question, lead question

leading
article, lead article, working man, workman

canoe club, canoeing club
|
one-offs |
Although there is only one instance of most of the following, you can use
the principles to form new similar phrases:

registered letter, postal order,
governor* general,
Catholic* religion*
*See also Contractions Optional for
these

all of a sudden, passenger
train, rules and regulations,
trade regulations, headquarters

social security, social
security system, husband and wife, last
but not least

Great Britain, be that as it
may, vice versa,
viva voce |
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