L in Morse code
L is dot dash dot dot in International Morse code, said “di-dah-di-dit”. It has 4 elements and lasts 9 units, which is 540 ms at 20 WPM.
Hear L at your speed
At 15 WPM, L takes 720 ms to send. Flash or vibrate it in the translator
L 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.
How to remember L
- L is R with one more dot on the end.
- Say it out loud as “di-dah-di-dit”. Learning the rhythm, not counting dots and dashes, is what lets you recognise it at speed.
- L is character 11 of 41 in the Koch learning order, followed by W. Practise it in the Koch trainer.
Letters that sound like L
These are the letters most often copied by mistake for L, and why.
- FSame signals in reverse order
- YDots and dashes swapped
- ZOne element different
- HOne element different
- POne element different
- ROne element shorter
Can you hear the difference?
Listen, then pick the one you heard.
L at a glance
- Morse code
- .-..
- Sounds like
- di-dah-di-dit
- Length
- 9 units
- At 20 WPM
- 540 ms
- NATO word
- Lima
- Frequency in English
- 4.0% (11th of 26)
American Morse is different. In the American (Railroad) Morse once used on US telegraph lines, L was ⸺: a single long dash, about twice a normal dash. 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.