Note-Taking Tips
Use the beginnings of words
One way to shorten a word is to use just the beginning of the word, for example:
Abbreviation | Expansion |
|---|---|
pol | politics |
gov | government |
subj | subject |
info | information |
intro | introduction |
Use the beginnings of words with final letter
Sometimes it can be useful to add the final letter of the word. Some people prefer to also add an apostrophe (‘), others don’t. For example:
Abbreviation | Expansion |
|---|---|
govt | government |
gov’t | government |
interl | international |
inter’l | international |
Omit vowels
Sometimes you might need to write out the whole word, but even so, you can probably leave out the vowels and still understand the word, for example:
Abbreviation | Expansion |
|---|---|
prblm | problem |
schl | school |
bkgd | background |
Abbreviate -ing
The ending -ing is very common, so find a way to appreciate it, for example:
Abbreviation | Expansion |
|---|---|
ckg | checking |
ckng | checking |
ck’g | checking |
Abbreviate specific words from the lecture
If there are words which are commonly used in a particular lecture you are listening to, you should try to abbreviate them. For example, in a lecture about acid rain, the speaker might frequently talk about sulphur, nitrogen, pollution, factories. The following abbreviations could be used:
Abbreviation | Expansion |
|---|---|
AR | acid rain |
S | sulphur |
N | nitrogen |
pol | pollution |
facs | factories |
Common Symbols & Abbreviations
Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
→ | Leads to, causes (showing result) |
← | Caused by, because of (showing reason) |
↑ | Increase, more, go up, up |
↓ | Decrease, less, go down, down |
= | Equal to, is, are |
≠ | Not equal to, is not, are not, is the opposite of |
⩰ | approximately |
﹥ | Greater than |
≫ | Much greater than |
﹤ | Less than |
∴ | therefore |
∵ | because |
〃〃 | Ditto (same as above) |
+ | and |
# | number |
$ | money |
@ | at |
‘ | minutes/feet |
“ | seconds/inches |
♂ | Man, men, male |
♀ | Woman, women, female |
Abbreviations
Abbrev | Meaning |
|---|---|
e.g. | For example |
i.e. | That is |
etc. | Etcetera, and so on |
C | Century, e.g. C20: 20th century |
approx | approximate(ly) (see also ⩰ symbol) |
diff | Difference, different, difficult, difficulty |
imp | Important, importance |
lang | language |
max | maximum |
min | minimum |
1st | First (similarly 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.) |
UK | United Kingdom (similarly US for America, Aus for Australia, Eur for Europe) |
Q | question |
A | answer |
no. | Number (see also # symbol) |
poss | Possible, possibly |
prob | Problem, probable, probably |
sts | students |
v | very |
w/ | with |
w/o | without |