Subspace speech adaptation may be utilized for facilitating the recognition of speech containing short utterances. Speech training data may be received in a speech model by a computer. A first matrix may be determined for preconditioning speech statistics based on the speech training data. A second matrix may be determined for representing a basis for the speech to be recognized. A set of basis matrices may then be determined from the first matrix and the second matrix. Speech test data including a short utterance may then be received by the computer. The computer may then apply the set of basis matrices to the speech test data to produce a transcription. The transcription may represent speech recognition of the short utterance.