✨ The Magic of the Asterisk: Turning Words into -LY Words

If you’ve ever wished you had a “turbo button” on your steno machine…

you do.

It’s the * asterisk.

We can use the asterisk as your adverb-maker. It’s the tiny key that quietly says:

“Hey — make this word end in -LY.”

🧠 Think of It This Way

You already know the base word:

• normal
• legal
• careful
• usual

Now you want to turn it into an adverb:

• normally
• legally
• carefully
• usually

Instead of writing a whole new outline…

👉 You add the asterisk.

That’s it.

🔑 The Pattern You’re Seeing

Looking at this list, the pattern is beautifully consistent:

Base Word	Add *	Result
normal	TPHO*RL	normally
legal	HR*EL	legally
usual	AO*URBL	usually
careful	KA*EUFL	carefully
gradual	TKPWRA*UL	gradually

  The base stays recognizable.

The asterisk signals to add -LY.”

🎯 Why This Works (And Why It’s Smart)

1. It protects your fingers.
2. There’s only so much speed in your hands. Writing full endings every time wastes motion.
3. It protects your brain.
4. You don’t memorize two completely separate outlines (normal / normally).
5. You memorize one — then modify it.
6. It builds pattern recognition.
7. Your brain starts thinking in families:

• legal → legally
• final → finally
• critical → critically
• practical → practically

One structure. One adjustment.

1. It increases speed automatically.
2. Shorter stroke = less movement = more control at higher WPM.

🪄 The Secret to Making It Stick

When practicing, don’t just drill the -ly words randomly.

Practice them in pairs:

• normal / normally
• careful / carefully
• political / politically
• usual / usually

Your brain loves contrast. It locks the pattern in faster.

⚠️ Important Mindset Shift

The asterisk is not “extra.”

It is not decoration.

It is not random.

🌟 SKILL-BUILDING BONUS!

The more you recognize patterns like this,

the less you feel buried by vocabulary.

You don’t have 500 new words.

You have:

• a base word
• a pattern
• and one smart key that transforms it

That’s not memorization.

That’s system mastery.

And mastery is what builds skill.