Top 100 Words in Plover's Dictionary

What they are, and why they are stroked like that.

Introduction

Fun fact: The top 100 words in the English language make up about 50% of all written material.

When learning steno theory, you might be confused by the fact that many common words are not written out phonetically. There are many reasons that this is the case, but it boils down to:

• Avoiding word boundary errors
• Ease of stroking

The List

1. the

-T

The most common word in the English language is reserved to just one key, right-hand -T. The right hand position makes it easy to have a single stroke brief for some of the most common two-word phrases. For example: SKP-T for "and the".

2. be

-B

Right-hand -B. The "B" key in Plover just happens to be the "be" key. How convenient! Writing out "be" like PWE is the word part "be^". For example: "beware" or "belated". And the phonetic PWAOE is "bee"!

3. to

TO

Written out by spelling, TO. This is easy to hit and free of conflicts.

Warning: O for "to" in the default dictionary is a misstroke. It is not free from word boundaries.

4. of

-F

Right-hand -F. This is a simple one key stroke, and it frees up OF to be used for "off".

5. and

SKP-

SKP-. This is an easy to hit stroke with only the left hand. This makes it a good candidate for starting phrases, like SKPU for "and you".

6. a

AEU

A is used as a prefix for words like "affix" or "arrive". The tense A sound is used to avoid conflicts. In some theories, these strokes are mixed, and you could swap them safely, if you wanted.

7. in

TPH

TPH is just the left-hand N. This combination frees up EUPB to be used for the "in^" prefix, like in "indoors". Also good for phrases, such as TPH-T for "in the".

8. that

THA

We drop the ending T to bring this stroke into the left hand for use at the beginning of phrases. Examples: THAR for "that are", THAS for "that is".

9. have

SR-

This is the left-hand V. The phonetic version of this would be HA*F which is much harder to stroke for such a common word, and the left-hand makes right-hand phrase parts feel more natural, like SR-T for "have the".

HAF and HA*F get mapped to "half" and "1/2" in the default dictionary, respectively.

10. I

EU (I)

This is a non-phonetic stroke to give space for "eye". It's easy to hit and fits in some phrases, such as SKPEU for "and I". Note that, in some cases, you will use the AOEU cluster for I, such as in "I'll" (AOEUL) and "I'm" (AOEUPL) because the shorter versions are used for other things, in this case "ill" and the word beginning "im^".

11. it

T-

This is easy to hit and on the left hand for beginning phrases such as TWAS for "it was". Same pattern as for "in" and "if".

12. for

TP-R (F-R).

This drops the vowel to save effort for such a common word. If you want to use "for^" the prefix, then use FAUR. For example, forgone is FAUR/TKPWOPB.

13. not

TPHOT

14. on

OPB

15. with

W-

This is another easy to use single key stroke that can begin phrases like WOUR for "with our" and W-T for "with the".

16. he

HE

This is recommended over the E-only version for most cases, but depending on the phrase or word you might need E (SKPE: and he), HE (HEBGD: he could), and HAOE (HAO*EL: he'll)

17. as

AS (spelling) or AZ (phonetic).

18. you

U

The U key is used for "you". Can be used in phrases such as SKPU for "and you".

19. do

TKO (spelling).

Don't drop the vowel, because TK- alone is used for "did".

20. at

AT

21. this

TH

"This" is a special case, as it's basically set to TH for convenience and to open up the opportunity for several other briefs. For example, THEU is used for "think", and THEUS follows as "thinks".

Also works in phrases: TH-FS for "this was"

22. but

PWUT or PWU.

Mirabai uses PWUT as "but" and that is okay, but you can safely remap PWUT to "but the" if you want to use PWU as "but" exclusively.

23. his

HEUS (spelling), HEUZ (phonetic)

24. by

PWEU

This is a non-phonetic mapping to make room for PWAOEU: "buy". Add an asterisk to "by" and get the word beginning "bi^", add an asterisk to "buy" and get "bye".

25. from

TPR- (FR-).

This is similar to "for" (TP-R), but instead of dropping just the vowel, we drop the ending -M sound as well. This opens up "from" to phrases, like in TPRUS for "from us" and TPR-T for "from the" and TPREUPLT for "from time to time".

26. they

THE

Since "the" is stroked with just -T, we can place "they" in this stroke. It's important not to use THAEU to avoid potential conflict when we get to "they're" and "their".

27. we

WE (spelling) or WAOE (phonetic)

28. say

SAEU (phonetic).

Advanced: Also present as a right-hand only shortcut as -BZ, such as THEBZ for "they say". Get the past tense with -BS such as THEBS for "they said".

29. her

HER

30. she

SHE (spelling) or SHAOE (phonetic)

31. or

OR.

The phonetic version is given instead to "other" (OER).

32. an

APB

33. will

HR-

Left-hand L. Useful for phrases, such as HR-B for "will be" and HRU for "will you".

34. my

PHEU or PHAOEU.

We break phonetic convention to offer an easier to hit stroke.

35. one

WUPB (phonetic)

36. all

AUL (phonetic).

This vowel is common in the Plover dictionary, such as in WAUL (wall) and PWAUL (ball).

37. would

WO.

Left-hand-only brief is useful for phrases: WOB for "would be" and WOU for "would you".

38. there

THR-

This brief is used to avoid conflict with THER for "they're" and THAEUR for "their".

39. their

THAEUR (phonetic).

The homophone "they're" is stroked with THER which is the brief THE for "they" with -R added on.

40. what

WHA

Similar to THA for "that", WHAT is "what the".

41. so

SO (spelling)

42. up

UP

Use AUP for the word beginning "up^" like AUP/WARDZ for "upwards".

43. out

OUT

Use AOUT for the word beginning "out^" like AOUT/SPOEBG/*EN for "outspoken" or AOUT/RAEUPBLG for "outrage".

44. if

TP-

The bare left F is used for "if". Good as a phrase beginner, such as TP-T for "if the". Same pattern as "it" and "in".

45. about

PW-

The left-hand B is used for "about" as a convenient brief. Some theories do this word differently. One nice benefit of being on the left side is, of course, phrases: PW-T for "about the".

46. who

WHO (spelling).

We can't use HAOU (hue) or HAO (hoo).

47. get

TKPWET or TKPW-T

48. which

WEU. Just a brief.

49. go

TKPWO (spelling), TKPWOE (phonetic), or just TKPW.

50. me

PHE (spelling), PHAOE (phonetic).

As with many of these common words, being less strict on the vowel gives your fingers a potential break.

51. when

WH (brief) or WHEPB (spelling)

52. make

PHAEUBG (MAIK) (phonetic)

53. can

The left-hand K- only, useful for phrases. K-B (can be).

54. like

HRAOEUBG (phonetic)

55. time

TAOEUPL (phonetic)

56. no

TPHO (spelling).

The phonetic version is saved for "know".

57. just

SKWRUFT

Remember that -F is sometimes used for S.

58. him

HEUPL

59. know

TPHOE (phonetic)

60. take

TAEUBG (phonetic)

61. people

PAOEPL

In this case -PL is used for the "pl" sound instead of -M.

62. into

TPHAO

TPH- is "in", and AO is sometimes used for oo which sounds liked the vowel in "into". Can't use TPHAOU as it is being used by "knew".

63. year

KWRAOER (phonetic)

64. your

KWROUR (spelling).

Don't use KWRUR as that's the word ending ^ur like in KHROES/KWRUR (closure).

65. good

TKPWAOD

66. some

SOPL

As a word beginning, S- and SPH- are used: for example, SPH-PB for "someone" and S-G for "something".

67. could

KO

Brief like WO for "would".

68. them

THEPL

69. see

SAOE

70. other

OER

Shows up as a word part, like in TPHOER for "another".

71. than

THAPB (spelling)

72. then

THEPB (spelling)

73. now

TPHOU

74. look

HRAOBG

75. only

OEPBL

In Plover's dictionary, E is often added to strokes to make them end with an "ee" sound. OEPBL can be thought of as "onl/ee". Lots of briefs use this, such as KRAER for "contrary" and TPAEPL for "family".

76. come

KOPL

77. its

EUTS

T-S is used for "it's".

78. over

OEFR

Emphasizing the tense-O sound to contrast with OFR for "offer". To use as a prefix, use AUFR, such as AUFR/TKOPB for "overdone".

79. think

THEU (brief), with a whole family: THEUS for "thinks", THEUG for "thinking".

80. also

HR-S (brief)

81. back

PWABG

82. after

AF

AFT is a misstroke entry which you could consider remapping to "aft" or "after the". To use as a prefix, use AFR, such as AFR/TAEUFT for "aftertaste".

83. use

AOUS or AOUZ

84. two

TWO (spelling)

85. how

HOU

86. our

OUR

87. work

WORBG

88. first

TPEURS

This brief drops the "t" sound for comfort.

89. well

WEL

90. way

WAEU

91. even

AOEPB or AOEFPB

Dropping the -F makes this stroke easier to hit.

92. new

TPHU

Briefed to avoid conflict with TPHAOU for "knew".

93. want

WAPBT

94. because

PWAUS or PWAUZ (briefs)

95. any

TPHEU (brief)

96. these

THEZ (brief) or THAOES/THAOEZ (phonetic).

The brief is much easier to hit.

97. give

TKPWEUF

No need for an asterisk, which is often the case with common words in the Plover dictionary.

98. day

TKAEU (phonetic)

99. most

PHOFT, PHOEFT, PHO*ES, or PHO*S.

Go with the option you like most.

100. us

US