I Love You in Morse Code

The phrase, word by word

Every code on this page comes from the same Morse code translator the site runs on, so you can paste your own message in and get the same spacing back. The alphabet chart covers the individual letters.

The whole phrase is .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-, which is twenty four dots and dashes across eight letters.

The easiest part to get wrong is love. It ends in an E, a single dot, and that lone dot is what people drop when they copy the phrase from memory.

I is the shortest word here at two dots, and it is a whole word on its own, so the slash after it is doing real work. Without it the I runs into the L.

I LOVE YOU  .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-

The variants people ask for

Adding too puts a fourth word on the end, so it needs another slash and three more letters. I love you so much runs to five words and is nearly twice the length of the original.

Love you on its own is the compact option. It drops one word and two symbols while still reading clearly as the same sentiment.

Is there a shorter way to say it?

There is one real abbreviation, and it comes from radio rather than romance. Operators send 88 (---.. ---..) to mean love and kisses, usually as a sign-off at the end of a contact.

It is genuinely used, which is more than can be said for most shorthand you will find quoted online. Nothing standard exists for the exact phrase I love you.

That is a fair point in favour of spelling it out. There is no ambiguity in the long version, and anyone with a chart can decode it.

Using it for a gift, a tattoo or a keepsake

Most people who look this up are not planning to transmit it. They want it written on something, and the written form has its own considerations.

Keep the word gaps visible. Whatever stands in for a slash, a wider space, a different bead, a small break in a line, the three words have to stay separate or the phrase decodes as nonsense.

Decide up front whether the dots and dashes are meant to be readable or just decorative. A design that spaces every symbol evenly looks better and cannot actually be decoded, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

On jewellery, round beads usually stand in for dots and long beads for dashes, which is why Morse bracelets and necklaces have that distinctive pattern of short and long elements.

For a tattoo, check the sequence twice against a chart before anyone picks up a needle. A dropped dot is a permanent typo, and the missing E in love is the most common one by a wide margin.

Whatever the object, write the plain English text somewhere too, on the back or on a card. The charm of the phrase is that it can be decoded.

A recipient who has no idea where to start does not get to enjoy it, and telling them afterwards is not the same as letting them work it out.

Saying it out loud

Spoken Morse has its own vocabulary. A dot is read as dit and a dash as dah, so the phrase is dit dit, then dit dah dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit dah dit, and so on.

Said at speed, dits and dahs are much easier to keep straight than dots and dashes, which is why every experienced operator uses them.

Tapping is the other way people send it in person. One short tap for a dot, one longer for a dash, with a clear pause between the three words so the phrase does not run together.

Questions people ask

How do you write I love you too in Morse code?

I love you too is .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- / - --- ---. It is the same phrase with T, O and O added as a fourth word, separated by another slash.

What is the shortest way to write I love you in Morse code?

The shortest genuine option is 88, ---.. ---.., the radio abbreviation for love and kisses. If you want the actual phrase rather than a stand-in, spell it out in full.

Is I love you the most common phrase in Morse code?

It is one of the most looked up, though the phrases people actually send are practical ones. Common everyday words are covered in common words and phrases in Morse code.

How do I check my own version?

Type it into the Morse code translator and compare. For a letter by letter check, the Morse code alphabet chart lists all 26 with a linkable row for each one.