Letters A to Z
The most frequent English letters received the shortest codes when the code was designed: E is one dot, T one dash, A and I two signals. Rare letters such as Q, Y and Z use four.
| Letter | Code | Letter | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | .− | N | −. |
| B | −... | O | −−− |
| C | −.−. | P | .−−. |
| D | −.. | Q | −−.− |
| E | . | R | .−. |
| F | ..−. | S | ... |
| G | −−. | T | − |
| H | .... | U | ..− |
| I | .. | V | ...− |
| J | .−−− | W | .−− |
| K | −.− | X | −..− |
| L | .−.. | Y | −.−− |
| M | −− | Z | −−.. |
Numbers 0 to 9
Numbers always have five signals and follow a simple pattern: 1 to 5 start with dots and fill up with dashes, 6 to 9 start with dashes and fill up with dots, and 0 is five dashes.
| Number | Code | Number | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .−−−− | 6 | −.... |
| 2 | ..−−− | 7 | −−... |
| 3 | ...−− | 8 | −−−.. |
| 4 | ....− | 9 | −−−−. |
| 5 | ..... | 0 | −−−−− |
Punctuation
International Morse code also defines the common punctuation marks. They are longer, usually six signals, so they are rarely confused with letters.
| Sign | Code | Sign | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full stop . | .−.−.− | Slash / | −..−. |
| Comma , | −−..−− | Equals = | −...− |
| Question mark ? | ..−−.. | Plus + | .−.−. |
| Apostrophe ' | .−−−−. | Hyphen | −....− |
| Colon : | −−−... | Quotation mark " | .−..−. |
| Open bracket ( | −.−−. | Close bracket ) | −.−−.− |
| At sign @ | .−−.−. | Exclamation mark ! | −.−.−− |
Try it here: Morse Code Translator
Open the full tool pageTiming: the real rules of Morse
Morse code is a rhythm, not a set of symbols. Everything is measured in one unit, the length of a dot. A dash lasts three units. Inside a letter, signals are separated by one unit of silence; letters are separated by three units and words by seven. Written Morse shows the letter gap as a space and the word gap as a slash.
Speed is given in words per minute (WPM), measured with the word PARIS, which is exactly 50 units long including the gap after it. At 20 WPM a dot lasts 60 milliseconds; at 5 WPM it lasts 240 milliseconds. The formula is: dot length in seconds = 1.2 divided by WPM.
| Element | Length |
|---|---|
| Dot | 1 unit |
| Dash | 3 units |
| Gap inside a letter | 1 unit |
| Gap between letters | 3 units |
| Gap between words | 7 units |
SOS and other famous signals
SOS is three dots, three dashes and three dots. As a distress signal it is keyed as one continuous pattern, without the usual gaps between the letters, so it stands out from ordinary text. It was chosen because it is easy to send and to recognise, not because it stands for words; save our souls is a later explanation.
Radio operators also use short abbreviations: CQ calls any station, K means over, AR marks the end of a message and SK the end of contact. They are written with ordinary letters and sent with the usual timing in the translator.
Letters with accents
The international standard covers only A to Z, plus É. Several languages added their own codes later, for example Ä (.−.−), Ç (−.−..), Ñ (−−.−−), Ö (−−−.) and Ü (..−−). Some of these codes are shared by more than one letter: Ä and Æ are the same, as are Ö, Ó and Ø. Letters without a code of their own are normally sent without the accent, so á becomes A and ß becomes SS. The translator on this page does exactly that and tells you which characters it changed.
How to learn Morse code
Learn the code by sound, not by counting dots on a chart. People who memorise the chart visually get stuck at slow speeds, because they translate every dot and dash in their head. Instead, listen to each letter as a whole rhythm: A sounds like di-dah, B like dah-di-di-dit.
Most courses use the Koch method together with Farnsworth spacing: the letters are played at a speed of about 18 to 20 WPM from the very first day, but with longer pauses between them, so the overall speed is slow enough to think. Start with two letters, add a new one each time you recognise the current set with about 90 percent accuracy, and practise 10 to 15 minutes a day. In the translator, tick Farnsworth spacing, set the speed to 20 WPM and the effective speed to 5 to 10 WPM, then let it play words you type.