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Morse Code Punctuation and Symbols
Period, comma, question mark, slash, @ and every other symbol in Morse code, with audio. Learn which marks are official ITU characters, which are informal conventions, and how a space between words really works.
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All punctuation marks in Morse code
Punctuation codes are longer than letters (five to seven signals) because they are used far less often. The "ITU" column tells you whether the character is part of the official International Morse standard.
| Symbol | Name | Morse code | Pattern | ITU | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Period (full stop) | .-.-.- | Official | Six signals, alternating dot-dash. Also used to end a sentence in telegrams, where it was often spelled out as "STOP". | ||
| , | Comma | --..-- | Official | Two dashes, two dots, two dashes. Easy to confuse with the question mark, which is its mirror image. | ||
| ? | Question mark | ..--.. | Official | Two dots, two dashes, two dots. Sent alone it also means "please repeat" or "say again". | ||
| ' | Apostrophe | .----. | Official | A dot, four dashes, a dot. In practice most operators simply omit apostrophes: "DONT" instead of "DON'T". | ||
| ! | Exclamation mark | -.-.-- | Informal | Not in the ITU table. The common code is the KW digraph (-.-.--); some older North American tables use ---. instead. | ||
| / | Slash (fraction bar) | -..-. | Official | Officially the "fraction bar" or division sign. In written Morse a slash is also the usual way to mark a word gap, which is a different thing (see below). | ||
| ( | Open parenthesis | -.--. | Official | Same code as the prosign KN. The ITU lists it as the "left-hand bracket". | ||
| ) | Close parenthesis | -.--.- | Official | The right-hand bracket adds a final dash to the opening one. | ||
| & | Ampersand | .-... | Informal | Not in the ITU table. Identical to the prosign AS ("wait"). Operators normally send ES for "and" instead. | ||
| : | Colon | ---... | Official | Three dashes, three dots. The ITU also lists it as the division sign in some contexts. | ||
| ; | Semicolon | -.-.-. | Informal | Not in the ITU table but widely used: alternating dash-dot three times. | ||
| = | Equals (double dash) | -...- | Official | The ITU calls it the "double hyphen". It is identical to the prosign BT, used as a paragraph break or a pause while thinking. | ||
| + | Plus (cross) | .-.-. | Official | Identical to the prosign AR, "end of message". The ITU lists it as the cross or addition sign. | ||
| - | Hyphen (minus) | -....- | Official | A dash, four dots, a dash. Used for hyphenated words and phone numbers. | ||
| _ | Underscore | ..--.- | Informal | Not in the ITU table. A modern addition for email addresses and usernames. | ||
| " | Quotation marks | .-..-. | Official | The ITU "inverted commas". The same code opens and closes the quotation. | ||
| $ | Dollar sign | ...-..- | Informal | Not in the ITU table; a North American convention. Seven signals, the longest symbol here. | ||
| @ | At sign | .--.-. | Official | The newest official character: the ITU added it in 2004 for email addresses. It is A and C run together (AC). |
Period, comma, question mark
The three you will actually use
Most messages need only these. Notice that the comma and the question mark are mirror images: the comma starts with dashes, the question mark starts with dots.
Period in Morse code
.-.-.-
dit dah dit dah dit dah
Comma in Morse code
--..--
dah dah dit dit dah dah
Question mark in Morse code
..--..
dit dit dah dah dit dit
A worked example: "Hello, are you there?" becomes .... . .-.. .-.. --- --..-- / .- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / - .... . .-. . ..--... The comma (--..--) and the question mark (..--..) are sent as characters of their own, separated from the surrounding letters by the normal three-unit letter gap. Try it in the translator, which handles every symbol on this page.
Space in Morse code: there is no symbol
The most common question about Morse punctuation has a surprising answer: there is no Morse code for a space. A space is silence. Morse code separates things by how long the sender stays quiet, measured in units where one unit is the length of a dot:
- 1 unit of silence between the dots and dashes inside one character.
- 3 units between characters (letters, numbers or punctuation).
- 7 units between words. That seven-unit gap is the space.
Written down, that silence has to be shown somehow, so people use conventions. The most common is a slash: .... .. / - .... . .-. . for "HI THERE". Others use a vertical bar (|), three spaces, or simply a wider gap. Our decoder accepts all of these.
Do not confuse the written slash that marks a word gap with the slash character -..-., which is an actual symbol you would send for "and/or" or a date like 5/24. When a translator outputs / between words, it is showing you silence, not sending a fraction bar.
Timing of a space
Here is "HI THERE" as a timeline. The wide gap in the middle is the seven-unit word space:
.... .. / - .... . .-. .
Colon, ellipsis and other tricky cases
Colon and ellipsis
The colon is an official character: ---..., three dashes then three dots. An ellipsis (…) has no code of its own. If you really need one, send the period three times (.-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.-), but in practice operators just leave a longer pause or write the word. The same goes for the em dash: use the hyphen -....- or the double-dash prosign BT (-...-), which is literally what telegraphers used to mark a break in thought.
Apostrophes and quotation marks
Both have codes, but both are usually dropped. "I'M" becomes IM, "DON'T" becomes DONT, and the meaning survives. Save the quotation-mark code (.-..-.) for cases where the quote itself matters.
Symbols that double as prosigns
Four punctuation codes are identical to procedural signals: .-.-. is both the plus sign and AR (end of message), -...- is both equals and BT (break), .-... is both the ampersand and AS (wait), and -.--. is both the open parenthesis and KN (go ahead, named station). Context tells the receiver which one is meant. The abbreviations and prosigns page lists them all.
Symbols with no code
There is no Morse code for #, %, *, ^, ~, {, }, [, ], <, > or the backslash. Spell the word instead ("PERCENT", "HASHTAG"). Emoji and accented letters have no international codes either, although several languages define their own extensions, such as Ñ (--.--) in Spanish.
Why punctuation is so long
Morse and Vail gave the shortest codes to the most frequent letters (E and T are one signal each). Punctuation came later and had to fit in the five- and six-signal combinations that were still free, which is why a period takes six signals while the common letters take one to three. In telegrams, where every character cost money, people wrote "STOP" rather than sending a period.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a period in Morse code?
A period (full stop) is .-.-.-: dot dash dot dash dot dash, six signals. It is an official ITU character. In old telegrams it was common to write the word STOP instead, because a six-signal character was slow and easy to miss.
What is a question mark in Morse code?
The question mark is ..--..: two dots, two dashes, two dots. Sent by itself it also means "please repeat". Its mirror image --..-- is the comma.
How do you write a comma in Morse code?
A comma is --..--: two dashes, two dots, two dashes. Like all punctuation it is sent as its own character with the normal three-unit gap on either side.
How do you write a space in Morse code?
You do not send anything: a space is a silence seven units long (seven dots). When Morse is written down, that gap is usually shown as a slash (/), sometimes as a vertical bar or three spaces. Letters inside a word are separated by a shorter three-unit gap, shown as a single space.
Is there Morse code for an exclamation mark?
Not officially. The ITU standard has no exclamation mark, but the code -.-.-- (the KW digraph) is used almost universally and is what our translator produces. Some older American tables used ---. instead.
What is the colon in Morse code?
The colon is ---...: three dashes followed by three dots. It is an official character. An ellipsis has no code; send three periods or just leave a pause.
Translate a full sentence, punctuation included
Commas, question marks and @ signs all work in the translator.