Reference
The Morse code alphabet
Every character of International Morse Code at a glance – with pattern and sound. Dots are short, dashes long. And if you want to recognise the characters by ear rather than look them up: that is what the game is for.
The rules in 30 seconds
- A dot lasts one time unit, a dash three.
- One unit of silence between elements of the same character, three between characters, seven between words.
- Frequent letters got short codes: E is a single dot, T a single dash.
Letters A–Z
| Char | Morse | Listen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ·– | ||
| B | –··· | ||
| C | –·–· | ||
| D | –·· | ||
| E | · | ||
| F | ··–· | ||
| G | ––· | ||
| H | ···· | ||
| I | ·· | ||
| J | ·––– | ||
| K | –·– | ||
| L | ·–·· | ||
| M | –– | ||
| N | –· | ||
| O | ––– | ||
| P | ·––· | ||
| Q | ––·– | ||
| R | ·–· | ||
| S | ··· | ||
| T | – | ||
| U | ··– | ||
| V | ···– | ||
| W | ·–– | ||
| X | –··– | ||
| Y | –·–– | ||
| Z | ––·· |
Numbers 0–9
Digits follow a system: each has five elements. From 1 to 5 there are as many dots as the number, followed by dashes. From 6 the pattern flips to dashes first. Zero is five dashes.
| Char | Morse | Tip | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ·–––– | Every digit has five elements. 1 to 5: that many dots first, then dashes. | |
| 2 | ··––– | Two dots, three dashes. | |
| 3 | ···–– | Three dots, two dashes. | |
| 4 | ····– | Four dots, one dash. | |
| 5 | ····· | Five dots – the easiest digit. | |
| 6 | –···· | From 6 the pattern flips: dashes first. 6 = one dash, four dots. | |
| 7 | ––··· | Two dashes, three dots. | |
| 8 | –––·· | Three dashes, two dots. | |
| 9 | ––––· | Four dashes, one dot. | |
| 0 | ––––– | Five dashes. |
Punctuation
| Char | Morse | Name | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| . | ·–·–·– | Full stop | |
| , | ––··–– | Comma | |
| ? | ··––·· | Question mark | |
| ! | –·–·–– | Exclamation mark | |
| / | –··–· | Slash | |
| = | –···– | Double dash (break) | |
| - | –····– | Hyphen | |
| : | –––··· | Colon | |
| @ | ·––·–· | At sign (added 2004) | |
| ' | ·––––· | Apostrophe | |
| ( | –·––· | Open parenthesis | |
| ) | –·––·– | Close parenthesis |
Some languages have extra characters, such as the German umlauts Ä ·–·–, Ö –––· and Ü ··––. Internationally they are usually written as AE, OE and UE.
Chart read? Now learn to recognise the characters by sound.
▶ Play the gameThe game is currently in German – an English version is on its way.