Y

The letter Y is a clean, “dash-forward” Morse character that ends with two dashes. Once you lock in its rhythm—dash, dot, dash, dash—it becomes one of those patterns you can recognize fast in both sound and sight.

People often search for things like:

• What is the letter Y in Morse code?
• How is Y represented in Morse?
• What letter is -.– in Morse code?
• How do you know when a letter ends in Morse code?
• How long is the letter Y in Morse code?
• How do you separate letters in Morse code?

This page gives you a focused guide to the letter Y: the exact pattern, timing rules, how it compares to similar letters, and simple drills to make it automatic in decoding and sending.

Y in Morse code: the exact pattern

Y = -.–

That’s:

dash – dot – dash – dash

Sound it like:

dah – dit – dah – dah

Timing rules (so you send Y correctly)

Morse timing is standardized:

• Dot = 1 unit
• Dash = 3 units
• Space between parts of the same letter = 1 unit
• Space between letters = 3 units
• Space between words = 7 units

For Y (-.–):

1. Dash (3)
2. Intra-character gap (1)
3. Dot (1)
4. Gap (1)
5. Dash (3)
6. Gap (1)
7. Dash (3)
8. Then a letter gap (3) before the next character

This is the “how do you know when a letter ends” answer in practice: the gap inside the letter is short (1 unit); the gap between letters is longer (3 units).

Y vs similar letters (how not to confuse it)

Y is easy to mix up with other dash-heavy patterns if you’re not listening for the dot position.

Compare:

• Y = -.–
• K = -.-
• Q = –.-
• C = -.-.
• X = -..-

Fast distinctions:

• K (-.-) is dash–dot–dash (only 3 parts). Y has 4 parts and ends with two dashes.
• Q (–.-) starts with two dashes; Y starts with dash then dot.
• C (-.-.) ends with a dot; Y ends with a dash.
• X (-..-) has two dots in the middle; Y has one dot, right after the first dash.

If you see or hear -.–, the answer is always Y.

Real examples using Y in Morse

Training Y inside real words makes it stick.

• Y = -.–
• YES:
  Y = -.–
  E = .
  S = …
  → -.– . …
• YOU:
  Y = -.–
  O = —
  U = ..-
  → -.– — ..-
• BYE (great for drills):
  B = -…
  Y = -.–
  E = .
  → -… -.– .
• YET:
  Y = -.–
  E = .
  T = –
  → -.– . –

Quick drills to master Y (-.–)

1) Decode speed drill

Look at: -.–
Say: Y
Repeat until it’s instant.

2) “Ends with two dashes” drill

Send these back-to-back:

• Y = -.–
• K = -.-

Goal: feel that Y is longer and finishes with —.

3) Contrast set (high value)

Cycle this set slowly, then faster:

• K = -.-
• Y = -.–
• Q = –.-
• C = -.-.

If you can nail these four, Y becomes basically unmissable.