Yes in Morse Code

Timing at 20 WPM

International Morse timing is measured in units: a dot is 1 unit, a dash 3, the gap inside a character 1, the gap between letters 3 and the gap between words 7. At 20 words per minute, one unit is 1200 ÷ 20 = 60 ms.

In total, YES is 25 units — 1.50 seconds at 20 WPM: 3 characters, 5 dots and 3 dashes. At a beginner's 5 WPM it would take 6.00 seconds.

Sound it out

Operators learn Morse as sound, not as dots to count. Say “di” for a dot inside a character, “dit” for a final dot and “dah” for a dash, with a pause between letters:

dah-di-dah-dah dit di-di-dit

Letters in YES that are easy to mix up

These letters differ from the ones in YES by a single dot or dash — one flipped element, or one extra or missing at the end — so they are the usual misreadings when you are copying by ear or by light:

About YES

YES spelled out is -.-- . ... in International Morse. In radio procedure, though, 'yes' is usually a single letter: the ITU's abbreviation list (ITU-R M.1172) defines C as 'Yes' or 'the significance of the previous group should be read in the affirmative'.

Operators also send R, which ITU-R M.1172 defines as 'Received', to confirm that a message arrived correctly.

Related radio abbreviations

YES in other codes

Convert your own text with the Morse code translator, the NATO alphabet converter or the binary translator, or print the Morse code alphabet.

Sources

• ITU-R M.1172 — Miscellaneous abbreviations and signals (C, R)