The letter Z in braille

How to recognise it

Dots 1, 3, 5 and 6. z is e plus dots 3 and 6 and closes the alphabet. In Grade 2 a standalone z means the word 'as'.

E, O and Z: one shape

Z is E with dots 3 and 6 added; with dot 3 alone, E is O.

Where Z turns up in Grade 2

Standing alone, Z is the word “as”. Inside a word it is the letter again: “zoo” is ⠵⠕⠕.

Writing a capital Z

Capital Z is two cells: the capital sign, dot 6, then Z. A word in capitals takes the sign twice, once for the whole word: “ZOO” is ⠠⠠⠵⠕⠕. Capitals covers longer runs.

Easily confused with

Z differs by a single dot from O, U and Y — the letters to drill it against.

Practice words

Words that start with Z, one cell per letter in Grade 1. Where Grade 2 writes one shorter, that form follows.

In a whole book

In a count over the whole of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the letter z is printed 78 times. Grade 2 still writes it as its own cell every time. It is never inside a contraction there.

The cell itself is written 341 times in the Grade 2 text: 78 as the letter and 263 as the word “as”.