Hello & Hi in Morse Code
“Hello” in Morse code is .... . .-.. .-.. --- (16 signals: 11 dots, 5 dashes). “Hi” is .... .., six dots and no dashes at all, which makes it one of the quickest greetings you can send. Below you can hear and copy both, see where each letter is easy to misread, and learn how radio operators actually greet each other on the air, where HI means something else entirely.
What Does Hello Look Like in Morse Code?
Copy-paste version: .... . .-.. .-.. ---. A space separates letters; when you send it by sound or light, that space becomes a pause three dots long. Spoken the way operators learn it by ear, hello sounds like “di-di-di-dit, dit, di-dah-di-dit, di-dah-di-dit, dah-dah-dah”.
What Does Hi Look Like in Morse Code?
H I
Copy-paste version: .... ... Because HI is nothing but dots, the gap after the fourth dot is the only thing that tells the receiver where H ends. Send six evenly spaced dots instead and the same signal can be read as S S (... ...), I H (.. ....) or 5 E (..... .). Leave a clear pause after H.
Letter-by-Letter Breakdown
| Letter | Morse | Typed | Signals | Easy to confuse with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H | · · · · | .... | 4 dots | S ... and 5 ..... |
| E | · | . | 1 dot | Merges into H if the gap is short |
| L | · – · · | .-.. | 3 dots, 1 dash | F ..-., its mirror image |
| O | – – – | --- | 3 dashes | M -- and the number 0 ----- |
| I | · · | .. | 2 dots | S ... (one dot more) |
HELLO and HELP in Morse code begin with the same three letters, .... . .-... A receiver cannot tell the two words apart until the fourth letter: another L (.-..) means hello, a P (.--.) means help. Every letter here follows the International Morse Code in ITU-R Recommendation M.1677-1; the full set is in the Morse code alphabet chart.
Hey, Good Morning and Other Greetings
“Hey”
.... . -.--
“Good morning”
--. --- --- -.. / -- --- .-. -. .. -. --.
“Good night”
--. --- --- -.. / -. .. --. .... -
“Goodbye”
--. --- --- -.. -... -.-- .
“Bye”
-... -.-- .
“Hello world”
.... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -..
Notice how GOOD is dash-heavy (--. --- --- -..): good morning takes 119 timing units, more than twice as long as hello. That is one reason radio operators shorten it to two letters, as the next section shows. For other words, use the Morse code translator or the list of common words and phrases in Morse code.
How Radio Operators Say Hello in Morse Code
On the air, amateur radio operators almost never spell out HELLO. A CW contact starts with a call, then a short time-of-day greeting, and ends with best regards. The shorthand below is standard among ham operators worldwide.
| Sent | Morse | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| CQ | -.-. --.- | General call: “any station, please answer” |
| GM | --. -- | Good morning |
| GA | --. .- | Good afternoon (also “go ahead”) |
| GE | --. . | Good evening |
| GN | --. -. | Good night |
| HI or HI HI | .... .. | Laughter, the CW version of “ha ha” |
| 73 | --... ...-- | Best regards, the usual sign-off |
| 88 | ---.. ---.. | Love and kisses |
Why HI means laughter on the air
Among CW operators, HI is not a greeting at all. Sent as .... .. after a joke, often doubled as HI HI, it means the sender is laughing. If someone on the radio answers your message with HI, they found it funny. In a text message to a friend, HI still just means hi.
Where “hello” came from
The word owes its everyday use to a telegraph man. Thomas Edison, who began his career as a telegraph operator, recommended “Hello!” as the way to answer the new telephone in a letter dated 15 August 1877, noting it could be heard 10 to 20 feet away. Alexander Graham Bell preferred the ship greeting “ahoy”. Hello won, while telegraph operators kept their own short codes.
The full list of CW shorthand, including Q-codes, is in Morse code abbreviations & Q-codes, and a complete on-air exchange is walked through in Morse code for ham radio.
How Long Does It Take to Send Hello?
Morse timing is counted in units: a dot is 1, a dash 3, the gap inside a letter 1, between letters 3 and between words 7. HELLO adds up to 49 units, HI to 13, GOOD MORNING to 119 and GM to 19. One unit lasts 1200 ÷ WPM milliseconds:
| Speed | Hello | Hi | Good morning | GM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 WPM | 11.8 s | 3.1 s | 28.6 s | 4.6 s |
| 10 WPM | 5.9 s | 1.6 s | 14.3 s | 2.3 s |
| 18 WPM | 3.3 s | 0.9 s | 7.9 s | 1.3 s |
| 20 WPM | 2.9 s | 0.8 s | 7.1 s | 1.1 s |
To send it without a radio, tap it on a table, flash it with a phone light or hum it, using the methods in how to send Morse code by tapping or blinking. The unit system itself is explained in Morse code timing and words per minute.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hello in Morse code?
“Hello” in Morse code is .... . .-.. .-.. ---: H (four dots), E (one dot), L (dot-dash-dot-dot) twice, and O (three dashes), with a short pause between letters.
What is hi in Morse code?
“Hi” in Morse code is .... ..: four dots for H, a pause, then two dots for I. It contains no dashes.
How do you say hello in Morse code out loud?
Operators say dots as “di” (or “dit” at the end of a letter) and dashes as “dah”: “di-di-di-dit, dit, di-dah-di-dit, di-dah-di-dit, dah-dah-dah”.
What does HI mean in ham radio Morse code?
In amateur radio CW, HI or HI HI means laughter, like “ha ha”. Operators greet each other with GM, GA or GE (good morning, afternoon or evening) instead.
What is good morning in Morse code?
“Good morning” is --. --- --- -.. / -- --- .-. -. .. -. --.. Radio operators usually shorten it to GM, --. --.
What is hello world in Morse code?
“Hello world” is .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.., with a slash marking the gap between the two words.