Reference
The braille alphabet
All 26 letters, each shown as a dot pattern with its dot numbers. Follow any letter for how it is constructed, which letters it is confused with, and what it means in Grade 2.
Learn it as three groups, not 26 letters
Louis Braille built the alphabet from ten base shapes and then reused them. Decade 2 is decade 1 with dot 3 added, and u, v, x, y and z are a to e with dots 3 and 6 added. The same ten shapes also carry the digits, and moved down one row six of them are punctuation marks — the comma, semicolon, colon, full stop, exclamation mark and question mark — so the first ten letters turn up again throughout the code. The history of braille has where the alphabet came from.
| Decade | Letters | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | abcdefghij | The ten base shapes, built from dots 1, 2, 4 and 5 only. |
| 2 | klmnopqrst | Decade 1 with dot 3 added to every cell. |
| 3 | uvxyz | Decade 1 with dots 3 and 6 added — decade 2 with dot 6. |
w breaks the pattern. It is dots 2-4-5-6 — j with dot 6 added — and does not follow decade 3. In the book Louis Braille published in 1829 it stands last in the fourth series, outside alphabetical order; the page for w names the source.
To carry on past the alphabet on paper, Learn Braille: Uncontracted (Grade 1) & Contracted (Grade 2) teaches Unified English Braille, Grade 1 and Grade 2, by sight. Its dots are printed rather than embossed, so it is written for a sighted person learning braille in order to help someone who reads it — not for reading by touch.
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Capital letters
Braille has no separate capital shapes. A capital is the letter with the capital sign, dot 6, in the cell before it: “Boy” is ⠠⠃⠕⠽. Doubled, the sign capitalises a whole word — “BOY” is ⠠⠠⠃⠕⠽ — so a word in capitals costs two extra cells however long it is. From three words in capitals on, the sign is tripled at the start of the passage and closed after its last word with dots 6 and 3: “THE BIG RED DOG” is ⠠⠠⠠⠮ ⠃⠊⠛ ⠗⠫ ⠙⠕⠛⠠⠄. The same closing sign ends capitals partway through a word, as in “BOYs”, ⠠⠠⠃⠕⠽⠠⠄⠎.
The alphabet as one image
Every letter and its dot numbers on a single chart, for printing, sharing, or dropping into a lesson.
Questions and answers
How many letters are in the braille alphabet?
26. Each is a pattern of raised dots inside a six-dot cell, and each has its own page here showing how it is built and which letters it is confused with.
What is the easiest way to learn the braille alphabet?
The alphabet is built in groups, so it can be learned as three groups and not as 26 separate letters. The first ten, a to j, use only dots 1, 2, 4 and 5. The next ten, k to t, repeat those same shapes with dot 3 added. The last five, u, v, x, y and z, add dots 3 and 6 to a to e, and w stands apart.
Why is w out of sequence in braille?
w is dots 2-4-5-6: j with dot 6 added, where u, v, x, y and z are a to e with dots 3 and 6 added. In the book Louis Braille published in 1829 it is the last sign of the fourth series, outside alphabetical order. Edward T. Morman, introducing the National Federation of the Blind edition of that book, gives the reason: in French, w appears only in loan words.
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Numbers
How the number sign turns a to j into the digits 1 to 0.
Punctuation
Commas, full stops, quotes and the rest.
Printable chart
The whole code on one printable page.
Practice drill
Drill the cells until you recognise them without counting dots.
Your name in braille
Any name broken down letter by letter, always in Grade 1.