In this paper, the design of first order sliding mode control (SMC) and twisting control based on the reduced order sliding function is proposed for the robust stabilization of an class of uncertain nonlinear single-input system. This method greatly simplifies the control design as the sliding function is linear, which is based on reduced order state vector. The nonlinear system is represented as a cascade interconnection of two subsystems driving and driven subsystems. Sliding surface and SMC are designed for only the driving subsystem that guarantees the asymptotic stability of the entire system. To show the effectiveness of the proposed control schemes, the simulation results of translational oscillator with rotational actuator are illustrated. © 2019 Chinese Automatic Control Society and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd