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J in Morse code

J is dot dash dash dash in International Morse code, said “di-dah-dah-dah”. It has 4 elements and lasts 13 units, which is 780 ms at 20 WPM.

Hear J at your speed

Speed

At 15 WPM, J takes 1040 ms to send. Flash or vibrate it in the translator

J on a timing ruler

Dots last one unit, dashes three, and the gaps inside the letter one unit each. The numbers under the ruler are the length of each part.

1131313

How to remember J

  • J is W with one more dash on the end.
  • Say it out loud as “di-dah-dah-dah”. Learning the rhythm, not counting dots and dashes, is what lets you recognise it at speed.
  • J is character 15 of 41 in the Koch learning order, followed by Z. Practise it in the Koch trainer.

Letters that sound like J

These are the letters most often copied by mistake for J, and why.

Can you hear the difference?

Listen, then pick the one you heard.

J at a glance

Morse code
.---
Sounds like
di-dah-dah-dah
Length
13 units
At 20 WPM
780 ms
NATO word
Juliett
Frequency in English
0.15% (23rd of 26)

American Morse is different. In the American (Railroad) Morse once used on US telegraph lines, J was -.-.: dash, dot, dash, dot (International C). International Morse, the code used today, is .---.

Sources: codes from ITU-R M.1677-1, the International Morse code standard; English letter frequencies from Robert Lewand’s analysis; American Morse from the historical US telegraph code.