Grade 2 contraction
The “er” contraction in braille
One cell for the letters “er” wherever they appear together in a word.
Dots 1-2-4-5-6
Unicode ⠻ — replaces the letters er
How to recognise it
Dots 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 — the full cell minus dot 3.
Words that use it
Each of these is shorter in Grade 2 than in Grade 1, because the letters “er” collapse into a single cell wherever the rules allow it.
| Word | In braille (Grade 2) | Grade 1 | Grade 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| water | 5 cells | 4 cells | |
| summer | 6 cells | 5 cells | |
| her | 3 cells | 2 cells | |
| paper | 5 cells | 4 cells |
Where it does not apply
These are the ones that catch people out — words that contain the letters but do not take the contraction. Knowing why is more useful than memorising the list.
| Word | Written as | Why |
|---|---|---|
| never | “ever” has its own two-cell contraction, so the word is n plus that, and no er cell appears |
Contractions it is confused with
These differ from “er” by a single dot, which is where reading errors actually happen. Under a fingertip a missing or extra dot is far easier to miss than a completely different shape, so these are the ones worth drilling against each other.
The same cell is a letter in Spanish braille
In Spanish braille this cell is not the “er” contraction. It is the letter ñ — a letter in its own right, one cell, no prefix. Spanish is a separate braille code rather than UEB with accents added, and all seven of its extra letters land on cells UEB has already given to a contraction.
It matters because the failure is silent. Spanish written with the UEB tables produces cells a Spanish reader will read confidently and wrongly, and 18% of the 5,001 commonest Spanish words carry one of these letters — measured, not estimated. The Spanish alphabet and the Spanish translator use the Spanish tables.
Check your own text
Type anything into the translator with Grade 2 selected and this cell will appear wherever the rules allow it. The full contraction list shows the other eighteen, and Grade 1 versus Grade 2 explains when contracted braille is the right choice at all.
The “er” cell as an image
One cell — dots 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 — as a picture for a handout or a slide.
