Braille numbers and punctuation chart
How Braille writes digits, capital letters and punctuation, with the dot pattern for every symbol and the rules that tell a reader where one number ends and the next begins. This is the reference page for the two parts of Braille that trip up most beginners.
Key takeaways
- A number is a number indicator (⠼) followed by the cell for the matching letter from a to j.
- One indicator covers a whole number: 2026 is five cells, not eight.
- A capital letter is the capital indicator (⠠) before the letter, and a whole capital word uses it twice.
- Most punctuation is a single cell, so it never changes the cell count of a word.
Numbers
Braille has no separate cells for digits. Instead, a number indicator (⠼, dots 3-4-5-6) tells the reader that the cells that follow are digits, and those cells reuse the first ten letters of the alphabet.
| Number | Braille | Dots after the indicator |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ⠼⠁ | 1 |
| 2 | ⠼⠃ | 1-2 |
| 3 | ⠼⠉ | 1-4 |
| 4 | ⠼⠙ | 1-4-5 |
| 5 | ⠼⠑ | 1-5 |
| 6 | ⠼⠋ | 1-2-4 |
| 7 | ⠼⠛ | 1-2-4-5 |
| 8 | ⠼⠓ | 1-2-5 |
| 9 | ⠼⠊ | 2-4 |
| 0 | ⠼⠚ | 2-4-5 |
Because the digit cells are the same as the a to j cells, the number indicator is what makes the difference. Without it, ⠃ reads as the letter "b", not the digit "2".
How numeric mode works
Three rules decide when a number starts and stops, and they are the same in English, Spanish, French and German Braille.
- One indicator for the whole number. "2026" is ⠼⠃⠚⠃⠋, that is the indicator plus four cells, five in total.
- A space ends the number. Numeric mode stops at the next space, so "12 cats" is ⠼⠁⠃ ⠉⠁⠞⠎ and not a longer digit run.
- A letter also ends the number. If a digit sequence is followed directly by a letter, the letter needs its own capital indicator when it is capitalised.
The same logic applies inside a phone number or a date. A number that starts again after a space gets a fresh indicator, and that is why the number sign appears once per group rather than once per digit.
Capital letters
Capitalisation uses a single cell, the capital indicator (⠠, dot 6), placed before the letter it applies to.
| Written | Braille | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | ⠠⠓⠑⠇⠇⠕ | Capital indicator before the H only. |
| HELLO | ⠠⠠⠓⠑⠇⠇⠕ | Two capital indicators mark the whole word. |
| iPhone | ⠊⠠⠏⠓⠕⠝⠑ | The indicator sits inside the word. |
Every capitalised letter needs its own indicator, so "BBC" is ⠠⠃⠠⠃⠠⠃ rather than a single indicator at the start. The exception is an acronym, where the double indicator covers the whole word.
Punctuation
Most punctuation marks use one cell, which means they never add length to a word and can be read at a glance.
| Punctuation | Plain | Braille | Dots |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period | . | ⠲ | 2-5-6 |
| Comma | , | ⠂ | 2 |
| Question mark | ? | ⠦ | 2-3-6 |
| Exclamation mark | ! | ⠖ | 2-3-5 |
| Semicolon | ; | ⠆ | 2-3 |
| Colon | : | ⠒ | 2-5 |
| Hyphen | - | ⠤ | 3-6 |
| Apostrophe | ' | ⠄ | 3 |
| Open quote | " | ⠐⠦ | two cells |
| Close quote | " | ⠘ | 2-3-6 and 4-5-6 |
For the letters that sit between these symbols, see the full Braille alphabet chart. If you want a copy for the wall, the printable chart page has the whole alphabet on a single PDF page.
Frequently asked questions
How do you write the numbers 1 to 10 in Braille?
With the number indicator followed by the matching a to j cell: 1 is ⠼⠁, 2 is ⠼⠃, and so on up to 0, which is ⠼⠚. The full list is in the numbers table above.
Why does my number look longer than the number itself?
Because each digit needs a cell of its own and the number indicator adds one more. The number 2026 takes five cells: the indicator plus four digit cells. Braille is never shorter than the text it encodes, only different in shape.
How are capital letters written in Braille?
With the capital indicator ⠠ (dot 6) placed before the letter. A capital word such as an acronym uses the indicator twice, ⠠⠠, at the start of the word instead of before each letter.
Is punctuation the same in every language?
The core marks, such as the period, the comma and the question mark, are shared across Western European Braille systems. Languages add their own accents and a few extra signs, so a Spanish or French document can use cells an English one never touches.
Can I try these numbers in a converter?
Yes. Type "2026" into the text to Braille converter and it produces the number indicator and the four digit cells for you. To read Braille back into numbers, use the Braille to text translator.