Let's conquer this! AISLE v. ISLE

 

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!