Morse code alphabet: the complete chart and how to learn it

What Morse code actually is

Morse code represents every letter and digit as a short sequence of two signals: a dot (.) and a dash (-). A is dot-dash, B is dash-dot-dot-dot, and so on. It was built for telegraph wires, but it survives because it works anywhere a signal can be on or off — a light, a buzzer, a tap on a table.

The chart below is the complete ITU alphabet used by Convrtr's translator, including the accented letters French and Spanish speakers actually type. Print this page and you have a printable Morse code alphabet chart to keep by your radio or your desk.

The Morse code alphabet chart: letters

Read each code left to right: a dot is short, a dash is three times longer. The gap inside a letter is one dot-length; the gap between letters is three; the gap between words is seven.

Numbers, punctuation and accented letters

Digits follow a memorable pattern: counting up from 1 to 5 adds dots, counting from 6 to 9 adds dashes. Punctuation and accented letters have their own codes too — the ones below are the codes the translator itself uses.

Timing: the PARIS standard

Morse isn't just dots and dashes — it's rhythm. The standard timing, called PARIS, sets one unit from your speed: at 15 words per minute, one unit lasts 0.08 seconds. A dot is 1 unit, a dash is 3, the silence inside a letter is 1 unit, between letters 3, and between words 7. That's why SOS (dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot) is instantly recognisable even to people who never learned the code: three short, three long, three short, with clean gaps.

Speed is personal. Beginners usually start around 10 words per minute and work up; the translator lets you listen at 10, 15, 20 or 25 words per minute, so you can hear the same message faster as your ear improves.

How to learn it (and actually keep it)

Start with the letters you'll meet most: E, T, A, O, I, N — short codes first, long ones later. Learn by sound, not by sight: the goal is to hear dot-dash as a rhythm, not to count dots on paper. Five minutes of listening a day beats an hour once a month, and copying real words (your name, then short sentences) beats drilling random letters.

Then test yourself both ways: type a word and listen to it, then listen to a code and decode it. Convrtr's free translator does both, in your browser, with sound and a downloadable audio file — no account, nothing uploaded.

From chart to conversation: your first week

A chart alone doesn't teach rhythm — practice does, and a week's plan beats a month of good intentions. Days one and two: the short codes only — E, T, A, O, I, N, plus S and H. Listen to them until each feels like a sound, not a puzzle to decode. Days three and four: add the rest of the alphabet, still by ear, in short sessions rather than one long grind.

By the end of the first week, move from letters to words: your name, then common words, then short sentences. Words are where timing clicks into place — the gaps between letters and words matter as much as the dots and dashes, and only real words teach you to hear them.

Keep the printed chart beside you for the first month, not as a crutch but as a safety net: glancing at it when you're stuck keeps practice flowing, and flow is what builds speed. The moment you stop needing it for the common letters, you're past the hardest part — the rest is mileage.

Frequently asked questions