Aisle v. Isle
I'm sharing in case it helps you. It helped me once I focused on it.
- Aisle (sounds like “I’ll”) is a path you walk down inside a place.
- 👉 Like the long space between seats in a movie theater or between shelves in a grocery store.
- Isle (sounds the same!) is a small island surrounded by water.
- 👉 Think of a tiny piece of land in the ocean where palm trees might grow
Easy trick to remember:
- Aisle has an A → Aisle = A way to walk
- Isle is like island → Land surrounded by something. Bonus tip: Gas pumps sit on an isle (island).
So:
🛒 You walk down an aisle.
🏝️ You visit an isle.
Now here's the STENO trick :)
Even though aisle and isle sound the same, steno is closer to spelling than people think, not just sound.
Aisle — AEUFL
- In English, the word aisle starts with an A (even though it’s silent).
- In steno, we keep that A, so use A, and then keep the I by using EU.
- So AEUFL is basically a steno way of spelling of aisle:
- A ≈ A
- EU = I
- F = Steno doesn’t have an S on the left side by itself in this position, so we use -F as the S substitute. =
- L = for the le ending
👉 AEUFL = aisle, spelled the steno way.
Isle — AOEUFL
- In English, isle starts with an I.
- In steno, a long I sound is AOEU.
- Steno doesn’t have an S on the left side by itself in this position, so we use -F as the S substitute.
- That means AOEUFL is the steno spelling of isle:
- AOEU ≈ I
- F = S substitute
- L = L for the le ending
👉 AOEUFL = isle, spelled the steno way, with -F standing in for the S.
The steno isn’t random.
- AEUFL looks like AISLE, with -F replacing the S
- AOEUFL looks like ISLE, with -F replacing the S
Same sound.
Different spelling.
We're using steno to keep the meaning straight.
Keep practicing!
