Tiny Endings that Pack a Punch!

 

The -LS Word Family

(a.k.a. tiny endings that pack a punch)

These words all like to end the same way, which means our fingers want to treat them like cousins. If we’re consistent, they become automatic.

Meet the Family

You already know:

unless → N-LS

The exception word
“Everything’s fine unless…”

Let’s expand upon the concept:

regardless → RARLS

I’m doing it anyway
“I’m going regardless of the weather.”

worthless → WORLS

No value
“That receipt is worthless.”

more or less → MORLS

Approximately
“It’s done, more or less.”

nonetheless → NONLS

Still true
“It was hard; nonetheless, we finished.”

nevertheless → NEFRLS

Formal cousin of nonetheless
“It was risky; nevertheless, she agreed.”

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Pattern Spotting 👀

Notice the magic trick here:

• -LS stays steady
• The front of the word does the work
• Your fingers only have to make one small decision

Same ending → smoother writing → fewer hesitations.

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Pro Tip ✨

When words sound alike at the end, teach your fingers to trust the pattern. Consistency now = speed later.

Your dictionary loves families.
Your fingers do too. 💛

 

 

 

🎯 One Root, Lots of Power: A High-Frequency Word Hack

Here’s a high-frequency word strategy that plays really nicely with our theory. Learn the root, then let it do the heavy lifting.

🔑 The KWR- family (Idea → Ideology)

Once you’ve got Idea = KWR-D, the rest falls into place:

• Idea → KWR-D
• Ideas → KWR-DZ
• Ideal → KWR-L
• Ideally → KWR*L
• Ideals → KWR-LZ
• Idealistic → KWR-FBG
• Ideology → KWR-LG

Same base. Small tweaks. Big payoff.

🔎 The OEUF- family (Identify → Identifiable)

Lock in the root Identify = OEUF, and you’ve basically unlocked the whole group:

• Identify → OEUF
• Identical → OEUFL
• Identically → O*EUFL
• Identification → OEUFBGS
• Identity → OEUT
• Identities → OEUTS
• Identifier → OEUFR
• Identifiable → OEUFBL

💡 Why this works:

Instead of memorizing a bunch of random outlines, you’re building families. Your brain loves patterns — and realtime loves consistency.

Learn the root. Trust the theory.

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 right-hand side in the position we want, 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 right-hand side in the position we want, 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!