Reference
Common phrases in braille
The phrases people most often want written out, each shown in both Grade 1 and Grade 2 so you can see exactly what the contractions change.
Every phrase
hello
The usual first word people ask to see in braille, and a good length for practising Grade 1.
I love you
Easily the most requested phrase, mostly for jewellery, cards and tattoos. Note the capital I takes a capital sign.
thank you
In Grade 2 the 'th' becomes one cell and 'you' contracts to a single y, so the contracted form is much shorter.
yes
Three letters, no contractions in either grade — useful for comparing Grade 1 and Grade 2 side by side.
no
Two cells in Grade 1. Watch out: a standalone n in Grade 2 means 'not', not 'no'.
please
Contains 'ea' and a doubled e, which makes it a good test of letter-by-letter accuracy.
sorry
The double r is worth feeling deliberately — repeated cells are where beginners lose their place.
help
Short, high-contrast cells, and a word worth recognising instantly.
good morning
Two words with a space between them, which is how you learn that a space is simply an empty cell.
happy birthday
The most common request for braille cards. The 'th' in birthday contracts in Grade 2.
SOS
All capitals, so it takes the capital word sign — two capital cells before the letters.
my name is
Three words and therefore two spaces, each an empty cell of its own — the clearest demonstration on the site that a braille space is a full cell and not a narrower gap. In Grade 2 the whole of “name” keeps its letters but “my” does not contract.
love
Shorter than “I love you” and asked for on its own, usually for a single word on a bracelet or a ring. In Grade 2 it stays four cells — none of its letter groups has a contraction.
stop
Asked about more often than you would expect, and worth knowing because the st in the middle is one cell in Grade 2 — a clean demonstration of a groupsign inside a short word.
Want something else?
The translator handles any text, and the name generator breaks a name down letter by letter.