If the sign for the be always written upwards in junctures and he always written downwards, notwithstanding they are both the same sign, they can never clash, as will be seen by comparing sign 4, all he, with sign 7, all the, in which instances it will be noticed that he is written downwards and the upwards. Sometimes students may suppose that they can distinguish the difference between he and the by position without regard to the direction in which the signs are written, but if it is borne in mind that those words are written in any position in junctures, that they must be joined when possible for speed purposes, and that the words to which they are joined must have the preference of position, it will be understood that the outlines for he and the may sometimes both be in the same position, as they are in signs 4 and 7 in Exercise, in which cases naught but a difference in the direction of writing will make them readable. Writing the sign for the always upwards and the sign for he always downwards, will thoroughly distinguish those words, and if that sign for the could always be used for that word, as the sign Hay is always used for he, there might be no danger of confliction in any instance, but this joining of words together in phrases is so necessary for speed and legibility, that phrasing must be done as much as possible, and on account of the different shape of some outlines, it is not always possible to join the list sign for the to ever outline.

It does not so greatly matter if the sign he is disjoined occasionally, as that is not so frequently-occurring a word as some others, but the word the is said to be the most frequently-occurring word in the English language. This being granted, the word the must therefore be the word of all others which most needs to be phrased whenever possible, for securing speed. For the words a, an and and, which are next in frequency of occurence, we can easily substitute one for the other, where the proper one will not join - the sign for an, doing duty also for either a or and, as in signs 6, 17, 21, 25 and 42 in Exercise, and and for a, as in the phrase but a, in sign 79, for those words will not clash, it being naturally allowable for the articles a and an to be substituted for each other or even for them to alternate with the conjunction and, but, if it be necessary to do this substitution for a, an and and, to gain speed by facilitating junctures, it is far more necessary to make use of a plan of substitution for the word the, where the word-sign in our list will not join, and the best sign that can be selected for such substitution is the pronoun I, which letter can be used in substitution for the word the, as in sign 59 in Exercise, without the least danger of its being mistaken for I, as the words I and the thus used will never clash. For this reason, where the sign for I will not join, we can reciprocate by using the upward tick of the for I, so that the signs for these two words, being entirely distinct, may be always substituted for each other where their own sign will not join, the student not forgetting, of course, that it is always best to join the original sign for any word when possible, and to substitute the other sign only when the original sign will not join, but to be sure to substitute rather than lose the opportunity of phrasing, which is so very necessary to be observed in writing the eight words and, a, an, the, I, he, we and you, spoken of in foregoing paragraphs.

We now come to the most particular reason why the original sign for the should be always written upward. It lies in the fact of this substitution of the signs for the and I where we cannot join the proper outline. The words he and the would seldom clash any more than the words the and I, because they represent entirely different parts of speech, but the words he and I are of the same parts of speech, both being pronouns, and it is words of the same parts of speech that are most apt to clash. The student can understand what a difference there is between the two statements, "he will pay" and "I will pay", and yet the only difference lies in the words he and /, which proves conclusively that he and I must be made distinct in shorthand writing, but, if we use the sign for the, which is just like he, when we intend it to mean I, we are going to have trouble, unless we write the word-sign stroke downward when we mean he in junctures, and the same sign upward when it means the or /. Then there is no difficulty in securing distinctions between such combinations as are presented in signs 63 and 64 of Exercise. By writing the word-sign for the upwards, therefore, when it means either the or /, we prevent clashing with he, providing we always write he downwards.

These are the only particulars of striking importance that are necessary to be observed in the writing of phrases containing word-signs, excepting the general injunction that the word-signs in foregoing list must be written in their proper positions, joined or not, with the exception of the and an, which, as we have stated, in company with six other words, take any position when joined. It may be as well also to add that the word-signs, with the exception of the and an, are joined commencing phrases, never at the end of them, but that the and an and the other six words we have named, and, a, I, he, we, you, may be phrased with other words, either beginning, ending or intermedially.

The signs for a, an and and are shown substituted for each other to make easier junctures, in signs 53 to 56 inclusive, and in other instances throughout the sentences given in this Exercise, as in sentences shown by signs 79, 80 and 85.

In joining phonographic word-signs and outlines into phrases, the the ordinary rule is to place the first word in its proper place-position, and let the other words in the phrase take care of themselves, in the Same manner that the second vowel-sound in a long word is treated.