Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to shorten
Participle: shortened
Gerund: shortening
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | shorten |
| you | shorten |
| he;she;it | shortens |
| we | shorten |
| you | shorten |
| they | shorten |
Perfect
| I | have shortened |
| you | have shortened |
| he;she;it | has shortened |
| we | have shortened |
| you | have shortened |
| they | have shortened |
Past
| I | shortened |
| you | shortened |
| he;she;it | shortened |
| we | shortened |
| you | shortened |
| they | shortened |
Pluperfect
| I | had shortened |
| you | had shortened |
| he;she;it | had shortened |
| we | had shortened |
| you | had shortened |
| they | had shortened |
Future
| I | will shorten |
| you | will shorten |
| he;she;it | will shorten |
| we | will shorten |
| you | will shorten |
| they | will shorten |
Future Perfect
| I | will have shortened |
| you | will have shortened |
| he;she;it | will have shortened |
| we | will have shortened |
| you | will have shortened |
| they | will have shortened |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | shorten |
| you | shorten |
| he;she;it | shorten |
| we | shorten |
| you | shorten |
| they | shorten |
Perfect
| I | have shortened |
| you | have shortened |
| he;she;it | have shortened |
| we | have shortened |
| you | have shortened |
| they | have shortened |
Imperfect
| I | shortened |
| you | shortened |
| he;she;it | shortened |
| we | shortened |
| you | shortened |
| they | shortened |
Pluperfect
| I | had shortened |
| you | had shortened |
| he;she;it | had shortened |
| we | had shortened |
| you | had shortened |
| they | had shortened |
Conditional
Present
| I | would shorten |
| you | would shorten |
| he;she;it | would shorten |
| we | would shorten |
| you | would shorten |
| they | would shorten |
Perfect
| I | would have shortened |
| you | would have shortened |
| he;she;it | would have shortened |
| we | would have shortened |
| you | would have shortened |
| they | would have shortened |
Imperative
| you | shorten |
| we | Let's shorten |
| you | shorten |
Verbs conjugated like 'shorten'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'shorten'
ghosten,
harten,
hotten,
sharpen,
shore,
short,
smarten,
soften,
sooten,
stouten,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- shorten
- curtail
- condense, abridge
- compress
- to make shorter
- abbreviate, abridge, chop off, compress, condense, curt, curtail, lop off, make shorter, pare, prune, reduce in length, trim, truncate
- I chopped down my speech
- chop down
- sawn off shotgun
- saw off
Antonyms
- to make shorter
- extend, lengthen
- to make longer
- lengthen, widen
- to make wider
- lengthen, straiten, widen
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
From Middle English shortnen, schortenen, equivalent to short + -en (verbal suffix). In some senses, a continuation (in altered form) of Middle English schorten (“to make short, shorten”), from Old English sċortian (“to become short”), from Proto-Germanic *skurtōną (“to shorten”). See: Proto-Germanic '
*skurtōną'.
Verbs referencing "shorten"
German, old spelling
schürzen.
Sample Sentences
-
York came round to our heads and shortened the rein himself, one hole I think; every little makes a difference, be it for better or worse, and that day we had a steep hill to go up. [[1877], Anna Sewell, “Earlshall”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 105:]
-
The full title of the unified system, the South Eastern & London, Chatham & Dover Railways, was decidedly cumbersome, and for the sake of convenience was shortened to the South Eastern & Chatham Railway. [1958 November 26, “The Why and the Wherefore: South Eastern & Chatham Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 809:]
-
Spoiled of his nose, and shorten'd of his ears. [1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:]
-
to shorten an allowance of food
-
Here, where the subject is so fruitful, I am shortened by my chain. [1699, John Dryden, Dedication to His Grace the Duke of Ormond:]
-
My grandfather, as I said before, was connected with a gang of shorters, and sometimes shortened money, […] [1858, George Borrow, The Romany Rye, volume 2, page 128:]
-
Corn flour makes delicious pie crust, and needs less lard to shorten it. [1894, Helen M. Laughlin, The Journal of Agriculture Cook Book, Journal of Agriculture Co., page 212:]
-
Anne and Leslie had another cry the next week when they shortened Little Jem. Anne felt the tragedy of it until evening when in his long nightie she found her own dear baby again. [1917, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams:]
-
In January Jims was five months old and Rilla celebrated the anniversary by shortening him. [1921, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Rilla of Ingleside:]