How to take lecture notes quickly. Common abbreviations and symbols for studentsAbbreviations and symbols save time. They shorten words and phrases. For example an abbreviation or the word pararaph! is para."t!s a ood idea therefore for students to use them when writin short#hand notes quickly durin lectures and from books and other resources.$eep this list of common academic abbreviations and symbols near you in lectures and when studyinguntil you know them. %vertime you can always add more to your list that are specific to your area of study.Frequently used abbreviationsapprox. approximatelyb/c becauseb/4 beforebk. book, bornC (e.g. 21C for twenty-first century!c. approximately, roug"ly, about (abbreviation for the Latin circa!cf. compare# to, in comparison wit"cp. compare#ef. #efinition#iff. #ifferent, #ifferenceea. eac"e.g. for examplefr. frometc. an# t"e rest, an# so ongen. generali.e. t"at is, t"at means, in ot"er wor#simpt. important$% important, notice t"is, note wellnec. nessesaryno. numberpt. pointp. page (pp. & pages!re. regar#ing, aboutsim. similars/t somet"ing'. t"eory, t"eoreticalt"o t"oug"t"ro t"roug"w/ wit"w/o wit"out(i). namely, t"at is to say(. (ery((. extremely(s. againstFrequently used numbers and symbols2 to, two, too4 for* anyt"ing en#ing in ate+ an#, also, as well as, in a##ition to, plus, minus, wit"out& e-uals, is t"e same as, results in. #oes not e-ual, is not t"e same as, #oes not result in/ is approximately e-ual to, is similar to0 is less t"an, is smaller t"an1 is greater t"an, is larger t"an2 increase, rise, growt"22 rapi# increase3 #ecrease, fall, s"rinkage33 rapi# #ecrease t"erefore, t"us because4 lea#s on to, pro#uces, causesx no, not, incorrectxx #efinitely not, #ispro(e#5 uncertain, possibly, unpro(en yes, correct #efinitely, certain, pro(en6 number special, important, notable (when added to a word or phrase!/ per (e.g., 789/#ay instea# of fifty poun#s per #ay!: not, isnt; at proportional to&ess frequently used abbreviations< answera#m. a#ministrationa#=. a#=ecti(e, a#=ourne#, a#=ustmentabr. abri#ge#abbr. abbre(iation, abbre(iate#aca#. aca#emic, aca#emyaka. also known asapp. appen#ixassoc. associationbiol. biologybibliog. bibliograp"ybot. botanical, botanycap. capital, capitalisec"ap. c"apterc"em. c"emicalco. companycollo-. collo-uial, collo-uialismconf. conference, confercont. containing, content, continental, continue, continue#com. commercial, commission, common, communication, communitycr. cre#itcrit. criticism#iag. #iagram#isc. #isco(ere##ist. #istinguis"e##i(. #i(i#en#, #i(ision#istr. #istribution, #istribute#econ. economics, economyesp. especiallyest. establis"e#, estimateex. examine#, exampleexcl. exclu#ingf. feminine, feminism, fre-uencygen. gen#er, generalgo(t. go(ernment"ist. "istorian, "istorical, "istoryillus. illustrate#inc. inclu#inginfo. informationlang. languagem. maleno. numberorig. original, originate#p. / pp. page / pagespara. paragrap"poss. possible, possiblyprin. principalprob. problem, probable, probablyprobs problemsprob. pro#uce# by, pro#ucer, pro#uctionpt. / pts. part, point / parts, pts>. -uestionref. refer, referencereg. region, registere#, regular, regulationre(. re(iew, re(isionsci. science, scientificsect. sectionsp. special, species, specificst. stu#y, stu#entuni(. uni(ersal, uni(ersityusu. usually(ers. (ersionyr. yearWhich abbreviations are used in your subject area?Consider makin your own list of abbreviations that are specific to your subject.Most abbreviations should NOT be used in essays and coursework as they are enerally too informal ' some acronyms can be used (althouh they should be written fully at first) such as the *H+ (*ational Health +ervice), -nited $indom (-$) and the -nited +tates (-+) to name a few.