What is Y in Morse code?

Y is -.-- in International Morse—4 elements occupying 13 Paris timing units at standard ratios.

How do you say Y aloud when learning?

Say it as dahdidahdah (dits and dahs), not the words “dot” and “dash,” so your ear matches on-air copy.

What letter is -.-- in Morse code?

The pattern -.-- decodes to Y; reversed, the same dots and dahs spell Q (--.-).

What is Y often confused with on copy?

Learners mix Y with J (.---) and N (-.). Drill them back-to-back at one WPM before raising speed.

How long does Y take at 20 WPM?

At 20 WPM one Paris unit is 60 ms, so Y (13 units) lasts about 780 ms from the first dit or dah through the last element (letter space not included).

Y in Morse Code

- . - -

Say it aloud: dahdidahdah · NATO Yankee · 13 timing units (~780 ms at 20 WPM)

By MorseCoder Team · Last updated: October 22, 2026

Quick answer

Y is -.-- (dash-dot-dash-dash) with 4 elements. Y in Morse code is -.-- (dash-dot-dash-dash). Starts like N (-.) with extra dashes.

At a glance: Y

Spoken rhythm	dahdidahdah.
Timing length	13 units (~780 ms).
English frequency rank	Rank 18.
Mirror / reverse letter	Mirror Q (--.-).
NATO phonetic	Yankee.
Koch lesson on MorseCoder	Lesson 17 adds Y.

Dot length at 20 WPM uses 1200÷WPM ms per unit — see Morse code timing & WPM.

Words starting with Y

YACHT -.-- .- -.-. .... -
YOUTH -.-- --- ..- - ....
YIELD -.-- .. . .-.. -..
YOGURT -.-- --- --. ..- .-. -
YEARN -.-- . .- .-. -.

Timing for Y

Yankee spans dah-dit-dah-dah for eleven units—N plus an extra dah tail. Stopping after N’s two elements mis-copies Y as N.

Three worked examples with Y

YR → -.-- .-.

Y opens YR; dah-dit-dah-dah extends N’s first pair.
YES → -.-- . ...

Y starts YES; four elements before E and S.
HY → .... -.--

Y closes HY; do not truncate to N.

Easy to confuse with J and N

Juliet begins dit-dah-dah-dah instead. November is only half the length.

J (.---)N (-.)

Memory drill

"Yan-kee Doo-dle". Koch lesson 18 adds Y; drill N then Y sequentially until the extra dah at the end registers. Copy “HY” and “YH” at one WPM.

How Y is used on the air

Y appears in “YR,” “HY,” and English “yes” or “year.” Rank eighteen keeps Y moderate in ragchews. Foreign calls with Y need accurate dah-dit-dah-dah—truncation to N garbles suffixes. Voice Yankee follows sideband. Contest names may include Y; protect the full four-element tail. Scandinavian and eastern European calls often embed Y mid-suffix; copying only the first two elements as November is a common reason DXCC credits fail validation months later when bureau reviewers compare your log against recorded audio from the expedition.

Morse code timing diagram: a dot is 1 unit, a dash is 3 units, the gap between letters is 3 units and between words is 7 units

Sources

ITU-R M.1677-1 — International Morse timing and character set
ITU-R M.1172 — radiotelegraph abbreviations and operational signals
ARRL — Learning Morse Code
Our ITU-R M.1677-1 guide