Common Words & Phrases in Morse Code
Some words and phrases get translated into Morse code more often than any others. This page covers the most common ones — how to say them, what they look like in dots and dashes, and how to translate any phrase of your own.
How to Say “I Love You” in Morse Code
Broken down by word: I is · ·, LOVE is · – · · – – – · · · – ·, and YOU is – · – – – – – · · –. It’s one of the most frequently translated phrases into Morse code, often used in messages, tattoos, and jewelry as a compact, hidden way of writing the phrase.
Common Greetings in Morse Code
Hello
That’s H (· · · ·), E (·), L (· – · ·), L (· – · ·), and O (– – –).
Hi
That’s H (· · · ·) followed by I (· ·) — one of the shortest common greetings to send.
How to Say “Help” in Morse Code
Help
That’s H (· · · ·), E (·), L (· – · ·), and P (· – – ·). Note that this is different from the distress signal SOS — “help” spells out the actual word letter by letter, while SOS is a fixed distress pattern. See SOS in Morse Code for the difference.
Help Me
HELP is the same pattern as above, and ME is M (– –) followed by E (·).
Yes and No in Morse Code
Yes
That’s Y (– · – –), E (·), and S (· · ·).
No
That’s N (– ·) and O (– – –).
More Words & Phrases in Morse Code
(This table is a scannable recap of the phrases above, plus “I miss you,” which isn’t detailed in its own section above but is common enough to include here.)
Translating Your Own Words and Phrases
Not every word or phrase you might want to translate is listed here. For anything else — a name, a longer sentence, or a phrase not covered above — use the Morse Code Translator to convert it instantly. For a full letter-by-letter reference while you’re decoding by hand, see the Morse Code Alphabet & Chart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is “ILY” a real Morse code abbreviation?
No. “ILY” is a text-message shorthand for “I love you,” but Morse code doesn’t have a built-in abbreviation for it the way SOS is a fixed distress signal. To send “I love you” in Morse code, you spell out the full phrase letter by letter, as shown above.
Does Morse code have spaces between words?
Yes. Within a word, a short pause separates individual letters. Between two words, a longer pause is used — represented in written Morse code as a forward slash ( / ) — so the message can be read back with the correct word breaks.
Can any word or phrase be translated into Morse code?
Yes. Since Morse code assigns a pattern to every letter, number, and common punctuation mark, any word or sentence in English can be spelled out letter by letter. There’s no dictionary of “Morse code words” beyond a small handful of standard signals like SOS — everything else is just the alphabet applied to your text.