Type any text and get instant International Morse code — or paste dots and dashes and translate them back to English. Hit Play to hear the message as real beeps with correct timing, and use the full chart below to learn the alphabet yourself.
📌 Letters are separated by a space and words by /. The player uses standard timing: dot = 1 unit (80 ms), dash = 3 units, letter gap 3 units, word gap 7 units, at a 600 Hz tone.
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Morse code alphabet chart
International Morse code covers the 26 letters A–Z and the digits 0–9. Notice the design logic: the most common English letters get the shortest codes — E is a single dot and T a single dash — while rare letters like Q and Y get four symbols.
Char
Code
Char
Code
Char
Code
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
--..
0
-----
1
.----
2
..---
3
...--
4
....-
5
.....
6
-....
7
--...
8
---..
9
----.
SOS — the most famous three letters
The international distress signal SOS is ... --- ... — three dots, three dashes, three dots. Adopted worldwide in 1908, it was picked purely for its sound: no other short pattern is as hard to mistake in static or panic. Contrary to popular belief it never stood for "Save Our Souls" — the letters were chosen first and the phrase invented afterwards as a mnemonic. Type SOS into the translator above and press Play to hear exactly what ships' radio operators listened for.
How Morse timing works
Everything in Morse is measured against one time unit — the length of a dot:
Dot = 1 unit of tone
Dash = 3 units of tone
Gap between symbols inside a letter = 1 unit of silence
Gap between letters = 3 units of silence
Gap between words = 7 units of silence
The silence carries as much information as the tone: without the 3-unit and 7-unit gaps, a stream of beeps would be unreadable. The Play button above follows this standard exactly with an 80 ms dot, which works out to roughly 15 words per minute.
Frequently asked questions
Morse code writes each letter as a short pattern of dots (short beeps) and dashes (long beeps). Read one group at a time: groups are separated by spaces, and words by a slash. For example .... . .-.. .-.. --- spells H-E-L-L-O. With the chart on this page you can decode any message letter by letter — or paste it into the translator and let it do the work.
SOS is ... --- ... — three dots, three dashes, three dots, sent as one continuous pattern. It was chosen as the international distress signal in 1908 precisely because it is short, unmistakable, and easy to send even under stress. It does not officially stand for "Save Our Souls"; that phrase came later as a memory aid.
Yes. Pilots still identify VOR and NDB radio navigation beacons by their Morse call signs, navies use signal lamps flashing Morse when radio silence is required, and amateur (ham) radio operators use it daily because it cuts through noise better than voice. It is also an important accessibility tool — people with severe motor disabilities can type and speak through devices driven by two Morse switches.
A single space separates letters and a slash ( / ) separates words. In sound, the same structure is carried by silence: the gap inside a letter is 1 unit, between letters 3 units, and between words 7 units. That timing is what makes spoken-beep Morse readable, and the Play button on this page reproduces it exactly.
Speed is measured in words per minute (WPM) using the reference word PARIS. Beginners copy at 5–10 WPM, licensed ham operators commonly work at 15–25 WPM, and top contest operators exceed 40 WPM. The player here runs at roughly 15 WPM (80 ms dot), a comfortable learning speed.
Cite this calculator
APACalcBrew. (2026). Morse Code Translator with Sound. https://calcbrew.com/morse-code-translator
MLA“Morse Code Translator with Sound.” CalcBrew, 2026, calcbrew.com/morse-code-translator.
Link to https://calcbrew.com/morse-code-translator. Results are estimates; cite the underlying formula or data source for academic work.