diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/i18n_html_parser.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/i18n_html_parser.ts
index 83d787e09f..c27e3eddd3 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/i18n_html_parser.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/i18n_html_parser.ts
@@ -117,7 +117,10 @@ export class I18nHtmlParser implements HtmlParser {
 
   // Look for the translated message and merge it back to the tree
   private _mergeI18Part(part: Part): HtmlAst[] {
-    let message = part.createMessage(this._expressionParser, this._interpolationConfig);
+    let messages = part.createMessages(this._expressionParser, this._interpolationConfig);
+    // TODO - dirty smoke fix
+    let message = messages[0];
+
     let messageId = id(message);
 
     if (!StringMapWrapper.contains(this._messages, messageId)) {
diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/message_extractor.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/message_extractor.ts
index 6509199597..79cb204673 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/message_extractor.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/message_extractor.ts
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ export class MessageExtractor {
 
   private _extractMessagesFromPart(part: Part, interpolationConfig: InterpolationConfig): void {
     if (part.hasI18n) {
-      this._messages.push(part.createMessage(this._expressionParser, interpolationConfig));
+      this._messages.push(...part.createMessages(this._expressionParser, interpolationConfig));
       this._recurseToExtractMessagesFromAttributes(part.children, interpolationConfig);
     } else {
       this._recurse(part.children, interpolationConfig);
diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/shared.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/shared.ts
index b75e7334c0..89c80791df 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/shared.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/i18n/shared.ts
@@ -74,10 +74,12 @@ export class Part {
         this.children[0].sourceSpan.start, this.children[this.children.length - 1].sourceSpan.end);
   }
 
-  createMessage(parser: ExpressionParser, interpolationConfig: InterpolationConfig): Message {
-    return new Message(
-        stringifyNodes(this.children, parser, interpolationConfig), meaning(this.i18n),
-        description(this.i18n));
+  createMessages(parser: ExpressionParser, interpolationConfig: InterpolationConfig): Message[] {
+    let {message, icuMessages} = stringifyNodes(this.children, parser, interpolationConfig);
+    return [
+      new Message(message, meaning(this.i18n), description(this.i18n)),
+      ...icuMessages.map(icu => new Message(icu, null))
+    ];
   }
 }
 
@@ -197,28 +199,33 @@ export function dedupePhName(usedNames: Map<string, number>, name: string): stri
  */
 export function stringifyNodes(
     nodes: HtmlAst[], expressionParser: ExpressionParser,
-    interpolationConfig: InterpolationConfig): string {
+    interpolationConfig: InterpolationConfig): {message: string, icuMessages: string[]} {
   const visitor = new _StringifyVisitor(expressionParser, interpolationConfig);
-  return htmlVisitAll(visitor, nodes).join('');
+  const icuMessages: string[] = [];
+  const message = htmlVisitAll(visitor, nodes, icuMessages).join('');
+  return {message, icuMessages};
 }
 
 class _StringifyVisitor implements HtmlAstVisitor {
   private _index: number = 0;
+  private _nestedExpansion = 0;
+
   constructor(
-      private _parser: ExpressionParser, private _interpolationConfig: InterpolationConfig) {}
+      private _expressionParser: ExpressionParser,
+      private _interpolationConfig: InterpolationConfig) {}
 
   visitElement(ast: HtmlElementAst, context: any): any {
-    let name = this._index++;
-    let children = this._join(htmlVisitAll(this, ast.children), '');
-    return `<ph name="e${name}">${children}</ph>`;
+    const index = this._index++;
+    const children = this._join(htmlVisitAll(this, ast.children), '');
+    return `<ph name="e${index}">${children}</ph>`;
   }
 
   visitAttr(ast: HtmlAttrAst, context: any): any { return null; }
 
   visitText(ast: HtmlTextAst, context: any): any {
-    let index = this._index++;
-    let noInterpolation =
-        removeInterpolation(ast.value, ast.sourceSpan, this._parser, this._interpolationConfig);
+    const index = this._index++;
+    const noInterpolation = removeInterpolation(
+        ast.value, ast.sourceSpan, this._expressionParser, this._interpolationConfig);
     if (noInterpolation != ast.value) {
       return `<ph name="t${index}">${noInterpolation}</ph>`;
     }
@@ -227,9 +234,19 @@ class _StringifyVisitor implements HtmlAstVisitor {
 
   visitComment(ast: HtmlCommentAst, context: any): any { return ''; }
 
-  visitExpansion(ast: HtmlExpansionAst, context: any): any { return null; }
+  visitExpansion(ast: HtmlExpansionAst, context: any): any {
+    const index = this._index++;
+    this._nestedExpansion++;
+    const content = `{${ast.switchValue}, ${ast.type}${htmlVisitAll(this, ast.cases).join('')}}`;
+    this._nestedExpansion--;
 
-  visitExpansionCase(ast: HtmlExpansionCaseAst, context: any): any { return null; }
+    return this._nestedExpansion == 0 ? `<ph name="x${index}">${content}</ph>` : content;
+  }
+
+  visitExpansionCase(ast: HtmlExpansionCaseAst, context: any): any {
+    const expStr = htmlVisitAll(this, ast.expression).join('');
+    return ` ${ast.value} {${expStr}}`;
+  }
 
   private _join(strs: string[], str: string): string {
     return strs.filter(s => s.length > 0).join(str);
diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/i18n_html_parser_spec.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/i18n_html_parser_spec.ts
index 98fd9da0bd..1649295c29 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/i18n_html_parser_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/i18n_html_parser_spec.ts
@@ -46,131 +46,134 @@ export function main() {
       ]);
     });
 
-    it('should replace attributes', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message('some message', 'meaning', null))] = 'another message';
+    describe('interpolation', () => {
+      it('should handle interpolation', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message(
+            '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/>', null, null))] =
+            '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/> or <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/>';
 
-      expect(
-          humanizeDom(parse(
-              '<div value=\'some message\' i18n-value=\'meaning|comment\'></div>', translations)))
-          .toEqual([[HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', 'another message']]);
+        expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div value=\'{{a}} and {{b}}\' i18n-value></div>', translations)))
+            .toEqual([[HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{{b}} or {{a}}']]);
+      });
+
+      it('should handle interpolation with config', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message(
+            '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/>', null, null))] =
+            '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/> or <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/>';
+
+        expect(humanizeDom(parse(
+                   '<div value=\'{%a%} and {%b%}\' i18n-value></div>', translations, [], {},
+                   InterpolationConfig.fromArray(['{%', '%}']))))
+            .toEqual([
+              [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
+              [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{%b%} or {%a%}'],
+            ]);
+      });
+
+      it('should handle interpolation with custom placeholder names', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message('<ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/>', null, null))] =
+            '<ph name="SECOND"/> or <ph name="FIRST"/>';
+
+        expect(
+            humanizeDom(parse(
+                `<div value='{{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{b //i18n(ph="SECOND")}}' i18n-value></div>`,
+                translations)))
+            .toEqual([
+              [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
+              [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{{b //i18n(ph="SECOND")}} or {{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}}']
+            ]);
+      });
+
+      it('should handle interpolation with duplicate placeholder names', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message('<ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="FIRST_1"/>', null, null))] =
+            '<ph name="FIRST_1"/> or <ph name="FIRST"/>';
+
+        expect(
+            humanizeDom(parse(
+                `<div value='{{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{b //i18n(ph="FIRST")}}' i18n-value></div>`,
+                translations)))
+            .toEqual([
+              [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
+              [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{{b //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} or {{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}}']
+            ]);
+      });
+
+      it('should support interpolation', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message(
+            '<ph name="e0">a</ph><ph name="e2"><ph name="t3">b<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph></ph>',
+            null, null))] =
+            '<ph name="e2"><ph name="t3"><ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/>B</ph></ph><ph name="e0">A</ph>';
+        expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n><a>a</a><b>b{{i}}</b></div>', translations))).toEqual([
+          [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
+          [HtmlElementAst, 'b', 1],
+          [HtmlTextAst, '{{i}}B', 2],
+          [HtmlElementAst, 'a', 1],
+          [HtmlTextAst, 'A', 2],
+        ]);
+      });
     });
 
-    it('should replace elements with the i18n attr', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message('message', 'meaning', null))] = 'another message';
+    describe('html', () => {
+      it('should handle nested html', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message('<ph name="e0">a</ph><ph name="e2">b</ph>', null, null))] =
+            '<ph name="e2">B</ph><ph name="e0">A</ph>';
 
-      expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n=\'meaning|desc\'>message</div>', translations))).toEqual([
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlTextAst, 'another message', 1]
-      ]);
-    });
+        expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n><a>a</a><b>b</b></div>', translations))).toEqual([
+          [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
+          [HtmlElementAst, 'b', 1],
+          [HtmlTextAst, 'B', 2],
+          [HtmlElementAst, 'a', 1],
+          [HtmlTextAst, 'A', 2],
+        ]);
+      });
 
-    it('should handle interpolation', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message(
-          '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/>', null, null))] =
-          '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/> or <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/>';
+      it('should i18n attributes of placeholder elements', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message('<ph name="e0">a</ph>', null, null))] = '<ph name="e0">A</ph>';
+        translations[id(new Message('b', null, null))] = 'B';
 
-      expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div value=\'{{a}} and {{b}}\' i18n-value></div>', translations)))
-          .toEqual([[HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{{b}} or {{a}}']]);
-    });
+        expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n><a value="b" i18n-value>a</a></div>', translations)))
+            .toEqual([
+              [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
+              [HtmlElementAst, 'a', 1],
+              [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', 'B'],
+              [HtmlTextAst, 'A', 2],
+            ]);
+      });
 
-    it('should handle interpolation with config', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message(
-          '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/>', null, null))] =
-          '<ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/> or <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/>';
+      it('should preserve non-i18n attributes', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message('message', null, null))] = 'another message';
 
-      expect(humanizeDom(parse(
-                 '<div value=\'{%a%} and {%b%}\' i18n-value></div>', translations, [], {},
-                 InterpolationConfig.fromArray(['{%', '%}']))))
-          .toEqual([
-            [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
-            [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{%b%} or {%a%}'],
-          ]);
-    });
+        expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n value="b">message</div>', translations))).toEqual([
+          [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', 'b'],
+          [HtmlTextAst, 'another message', 1]
+        ]);
+      });
 
-    it('should handle interpolation with custom placeholder names', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message('<ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/>', null, null))] =
-          '<ph name="SECOND"/> or <ph name="FIRST"/>';
+      it('should replace attributes', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message('some message', 'meaning', null))] = 'another message';
 
-      expect(
-          humanizeDom(parse(
-              `<div value='{{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{b //i18n(ph="SECOND")}}' i18n-value></div>`,
-              translations)))
-          .toEqual([
-            [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
-            [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{{b //i18n(ph="SECOND")}} or {{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}}']
-          ]);
-    });
+        expect(
+            humanizeDom(parse(
+                '<div value=\'some message\' i18n-value=\'meaning|comment\'></div>', translations)))
+            .toEqual([[HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', 'another message']]);
+      });
 
-    it('should handle interpolation with duplicate placeholder names', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message('<ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="FIRST_1"/>', null, null))] =
-          '<ph name="FIRST_1"/> or <ph name="FIRST"/>';
+      it('should replace elements with the i18n attr', () => {
+        let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
+        translations[id(new Message('message', 'meaning', null))] = 'another message';
 
-      expect(
-          humanizeDom(parse(
-              `<div value='{{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{b //i18n(ph="FIRST")}}' i18n-value></div>`,
-              translations)))
-          .toEqual([
-            [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
-            [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', '{{b //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} or {{a //i18n(ph="FIRST")}}']
-          ]);
-    });
-
-    it('should handle nested html', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message('<ph name="e0">a</ph><ph name="e2">b</ph>', null, null))] =
-          '<ph name="e2">B</ph><ph name="e0">A</ph>';
-
-      expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n><a>a</a><b>b</b></div>', translations))).toEqual([
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'b', 1],
-        [HtmlTextAst, 'B', 2],
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'a', 1],
-        [HtmlTextAst, 'A', 2],
-      ]);
-    });
-
-    it('should support interpolation', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message(
-          '<ph name="e0">a</ph><ph name="e2"><ph name="t3">b<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph></ph>',
-          null, null))] =
-          '<ph name="e2"><ph name="t3"><ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/>B</ph></ph><ph name="e0">A</ph>';
-      expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n><a>a</a><b>b{{i}}</b></div>', translations))).toEqual([
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'b', 1],
-        [HtmlTextAst, '{{i}}B', 2],
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'a', 1],
-        [HtmlTextAst, 'A', 2],
-      ]);
-    });
-
-    it('should i18n attributes of placeholder elements', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message('<ph name="e0">a</ph>', null, null))] = '<ph name="e0">A</ph>';
-      translations[id(new Message('b', null, null))] = 'B';
-
-      expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n><a value="b" i18n-value>a</a></div>', translations)))
-          .toEqual([
-            [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0],
-            [HtmlElementAst, 'a', 1],
-            [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', 'B'],
-            [HtmlTextAst, 'A', 2],
-          ]);
-    });
-
-    it('should preserve non-i18n attributes', () => {
-      let translations: {[key: string]: string} = {};
-      translations[id(new Message('message', null, null))] = 'another message';
-
-      expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n value="b">message</div>', translations))).toEqual([
-        [HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlAttrAst, 'value', 'b'],
-        [HtmlTextAst, 'another message', 1]
-      ]);
+        expect(humanizeDom(parse('<div i18n=\'meaning|desc\'>message</div>', translations)))
+            .toEqual([[HtmlElementAst, 'div', 0], [HtmlTextAst, 'another message', 1]]);
+      });
     });
 
     it('should extract from partitions', () => {
diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/message_extractor_spec.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/message_extractor_spec.ts
index cb1a8048d9..5ea37684d9 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/message_extractor_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/test/i18n/message_extractor_spec.ts
@@ -21,40 +21,9 @@ export function main() {
     beforeEach(() => {
       const expParser = new ExpressionParser(new ExpressionLexer());
       const htmlParser = new HtmlParser();
-      // TODO: pass expression parser
       extractor = new MessageExtractor(htmlParser, expParser, ['i18n-tag'], {'i18n-el': ['trans']});
     });
 
-    it('should extract from elements with the i18n attr', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n=\'meaning|desc\'>message</div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message('message', 'meaning', 'desc')]);
-    });
-
-    it('should extract from elements with the i18n attr without a desc', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n=\'meaning\'>message</div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message('message', 'meaning', null)]);
-    });
-
-    it('should extract from elements with the i18n attr without a meaning', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n>message</div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message('message', null, null)]);
-    });
-
-    it('should extract from attributes', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          `
-        <div
-          title1='message1' i18n-title1='meaning1|desc1'
-          title2='message2' i18n-title2='meaning2|desc2'>
-        </div>
-      `,
-          'someurl');
-
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([
-        new Message('message1', 'meaning1', 'desc1'), new Message('message2', 'meaning2', 'desc2')
-      ]);
-    });
-
     it('should extract from partitions', () => {
       let res = extractor.extract(
           `
@@ -79,90 +48,159 @@ export function main() {
       expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message('message1', 'meaning1', 'desc1')]);
     });
 
-    it('should replace interpolation with placeholders (text nodes)', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n>Hi {{one}} and {{two}}</div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          '<ph name="t0">Hi <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/></ph>',
-          null, null)]);
+    describe('ICU messages', () => {
+      it('should replace icu messages with placeholders', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n>{count, plural, =0 {text} }</div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="x0">{count, plural =0 {text}}</ph>', null, null)]);
+      });
+
+      it('should replace HTML with placeholders in ICU cases', () => {
+        let res =
+            extractor.extract('<div i18n>{count, plural, =0 {<p>html</p>} }</div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="x0">{count, plural =0 {<ph name="e1">html</ph>}}</ph>', null, null)]);
+      });
+
+      it('should replace interpolation with placeholders in ICU cases', () => {
+        let res =
+            extractor.extract('<div i18n>{count, plural, =0 {{{interpolation}}}}</div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="x0">{count, plural =0 {<ph name="t1"><ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph>}}</ph>',
+            null, null)]);
+      });
+
+      it('should not replace nested interpolation with placeholders in ICU cases', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            '<div i18n>{count, plural, =0 {{sex, gender, =m {{{he}}} =f {<b>she</b>}}}}</div>',
+            'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="x0">{count, plural =0 {{sex, gender =m {<ph name="t2"><ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph>} =f {<ph name="e3">she</ph>}}}}</ph>',
+            null, null)]);
+      });
     });
 
-    it('should replace interpolation with placeholders (attributes)', () => {
-      let res =
-          extractor.extract('<div title=\'Hi {{one}} and {{two}}\' i18n-title></div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          'Hi <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/>', null, null)]);
-    });
+    describe('interpolation', () => {
+      it('should replace interpolation with placeholders (text nodes)', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n>Hi {{one}} and {{two}}</div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="t0">Hi <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/></ph>',
+            null, null)]);
+      });
 
-    it('should replace interpolation with named placeholders if provided (text nodes)', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          `
+      it('should replace interpolation with placeholders (attributes)', () => {
+        let res =
+            extractor.extract('<div title=\'Hi {{one}} and {{two}}\' i18n-title></div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            'Hi <ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/> and <ph name="INTERPOLATION_1"/>', null, null)]);
+      });
+
+      it('should replace interpolation with named placeholders if provided (text nodes)', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            `
         <div i18n>Hi {{one //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{two //i18n(ph="SECOND")}}</div>`,
-          'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          '<ph name="t0">Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/></ph>', null, null)]);
-    });
+            'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="t0">Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/></ph>', null, null)]);
+      });
 
-    it('should replace interpolation with named placeholders if provided (attributes)', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          `
+      it('should replace interpolation with named placeholders if provided (attributes)', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            `
       <div title='Hi {{one //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{two //i18n(ph="SECOND")}}'
         i18n-title></div>`,
-          'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          'Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/>', null, null)]);
+            'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            'Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/>', null, null)]);
+      });
     });
 
-    it('should match named placeholders with extra spacing', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          `
+    describe('placehoders', () => {
+      it('should match named placeholders with extra spacing', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            `
       <div title='Hi {{one // i18n ( ph = "FIRST" )}} and {{two // i18n ( ph = "SECOND" )}}'
         i18n-title></div>`,
-          'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          'Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/>', null, null)]);
-    });
+            'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            'Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="SECOND"/>', null, null)]);
+      });
 
-    it('should suffix duplicate placeholder names with numbers', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          `
+      it('should suffix duplicate placeholder names with numbers', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            `
       <div title='Hi {{one //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{two //i18n(ph="FIRST")}} and {{three //i18n(ph="FIRST")}}'
         i18n-title></div>`,
-          'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          'Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="FIRST_1"/> and <ph name="FIRST_2"/>', null, null)]);
+            'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            'Hi <ph name="FIRST"/> and <ph name="FIRST_1"/> and <ph name="FIRST_2"/>', null,
+            null)]);
+      });
     });
 
-    it('should handle html content', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          '<div i18n><div attr="value">zero<div>one</div></div><div>two</div></div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          '<ph name="e0">zero<ph name="e2">one</ph></ph><ph name="e4">two</ph>', null, null)]);
-    });
+    describe('html', () => {
+      it('should extract from elements with the i18n attr', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n=\'meaning|desc\'>message</div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message('message', 'meaning', 'desc')]);
+      });
 
-    it('should handle html content with interpolation', () => {
-      let res =
-          extractor.extract('<div i18n><div>zero{{a}}<div>{{b}}</div></div></div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
-          '<ph name="e0"><ph name="t1">zero<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph><ph name="e2"><ph name="t3"><ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph></ph></ph>',
-          null, null)]);
-    });
+      it('should extract from elements with the i18n attr without a desc', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n=\'meaning\'>message</div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message('message', 'meaning', null)]);
+      });
 
-    it('should extract from nested elements', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          '<div title="message1" i18n-title="meaning1|desc1"><div i18n="meaning2|desc2">message2</div></div>',
-          'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([
-        new Message('message2', 'meaning2', 'desc2'), new Message('message1', 'meaning1', 'desc1')
-      ]);
-    });
+      it('should extract from elements with the i18n attr without a meaning', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract('<div i18n>message</div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message('message', null, null)]);
+      });
 
-    it('should extract messages from attributes in i18n blocks', () => {
-      let res = extractor.extract(
-          '<div i18n><div attr="value" i18n-attr="meaning|desc">message</div></div>', 'someurl');
-      expect(res.messages).toEqual([
-        new Message('<ph name="e0">message</ph>', null, null),
-        new Message('value', 'meaning', 'desc')
-      ]);
+      it('should extract from attributes', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            `
+        <div
+          title1='message1' i18n-title1='meaning1|desc1'
+          title2='message2' i18n-title2='meaning2|desc2'>
+        </div>
+      `,
+            'someurl');
+
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([
+          new Message('message1', 'meaning1', 'desc1'), new Message('message2', 'meaning2', 'desc2')
+        ]);
+      });
+
+      it('should handle html content', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            '<div i18n><div attr="value">zero<div>one</div></div><div>two</div></div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="e0">zero<ph name="e2">one</ph></ph><ph name="e4">two</ph>', null, null)]);
+      });
+
+      it('should handle html content with interpolation', () => {
+        let res =
+            extractor.extract('<div i18n><div>zero{{a}}<div>{{b}}</div></div></div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([new Message(
+            '<ph name="e0"><ph name="t1">zero<ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph><ph name="e2"><ph name="t3"><ph name="INTERPOLATION_0"/></ph></ph></ph>',
+            null, null)]);
+      });
+
+      it('should extract from nested elements', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            '<div title="message1" i18n-title="meaning1|desc1"><div i18n="meaning2|desc2">message2</div></div>',
+            'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([
+          new Message('message2', 'meaning2', 'desc2'), new Message('message1', 'meaning1', 'desc1')
+        ]);
+      });
+
+      it('should extract messages from attributes in i18n blocks', () => {
+        let res = extractor.extract(
+            '<div i18n><div attr="value" i18n-attr="meaning|desc">message</div></div>', 'someurl');
+        expect(res.messages).toEqual([
+          new Message('<ph name="e0">message</ph>', null, null),
+          new Message('value', 'meaning', 'desc')
+        ]);
+      });
     });
 
     it('should remove duplicate messages', () => {