Comma in Morse code
Written “,”, in the ITU standard
The comma in Morse code is --..--, said dah-dah-di-di-dah-dah: two dashes, two dots, then two dashes again. It reads the same forward and backward, which makes it easy to remember. It is in the international standard and is one of its three longest marks. Its mirror image, the question mark, swaps every dot and dash.
--..-- (dash dash dot dot dash dash)
“dah-dah-di-di-dah-dah”dash dash dot dot dash dash
6 elements · 2 dots, 4 dashes · 19 units
Hear it at your speed (WPM)
1267 ms at 18 WPM
The comma at a glance
- Morse code
- --..--
- Said as
- dah-dah-di-di-dah-dah
- Elements
- 6
- Length
- 19 units
- At 18 WPM
- 1267 ms
- Koch order
- 21 of 41Then V
- ITU standard
- Yes
- Sounds like
- MIMLetters run together
Long, short, long: a sign that reads both ways
Heard as letters, the comma is M, --, then I, .., then M again, all run together. Wikipedia's table writes the same six elements as GW, a G flowing into a W. However you split it, you hear a long pair, a quick double tap and another long pair.
Because the pattern is a palindrome, it sounds the same played backward, a quick self-check while you learn it.
Hear it
- M--
- I..
Comma or question mark?
Swap every dash for a dot and every dot for a dash and the comma becomes ..--.., the question mark. Both are six-element palindromes, so the middle settles it: dots in the middle mean comma, dashes in the middle mean question mark.
Hear it
- ?..--..
One of the longest ITU marks
Four dashes give the comma 19 units, about 1.27 seconds at 18 WPM. No mark in ITU-R M.1677-1 takes longer; the apostrophe and the close bracket tie with it.
YES, NO, the phrase in this page's practice box, is -.-- . ... --..-- / -. ---, 73 units in all, and the comma alone accounts for 19 of them.
Hear it
- YES, NO-.-- . ... --..-- / -. ---
Writing the comma by hand
With a pen, write a dot for each short sound and a short line for each long one, leave a space after every character and draw a slash between words, the way this site's Morse code translator prints it. On paper the comma is two lines, two dots and two lines.
Characters to compare
Close to the comma in sound, so the likeliest mix-ups.
- Comma with dots and dashes swapped: Question mark, dot dot dash dash dot dot
- Just as long: Apostrophe, dot dash dash dash dash dot
- The outer pairs: M, dash dash
- Just as long: Close bracket, dash dot dash dash dot dash
- Two elements from Comma: 0, dash dash dash dash dash
- Two elements from Comma: 3, dot dot dot dash dash
Which one did you hear?
Listen, then pick or type the one you heard.
Try the comma in a word
Tap the comma yourself
Press for a dot, hold for a dash. Space works too.
- Send
- --..--
- Yours
- Nothing yet
Questions about Comma.
Is GW the same as a comma?
Only when the two letters run together. G, --., flowing into W, .--, with no gap gives the six elements of the comma. With a normal letter gap, --. .-- is just G and W.
Did American Morse use the same comma?
No. American (Railroad) Morse wrote the comma as .-.-, which International Morse uses for the accented letter Ä. The American Morse code guide covers the older table.
What are the different types of Morse code?
The two main ones are International Morse, the version on this page, and American (Railroad) Morse, the old US landline code. Other tables send other scripts, such as Japanese Morse code for kana.
How do I say I love you in Morse code?
I LOVE YOU is .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-, three words with slashes between them. The I love you page plays it and shows its timing at 18 WPM.