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How to use the NATO alphabet translator
Type or paste text in the box. Each letter and digit becomes its code word, and each word of your text gets its own line. Tick "How to say it" to add the sounds, with the stressed part in capitals.
Press Copy to paste the spelling into an email or chat. Read it out uses your browser's own voice, so you can hear the words before a phone call.
The NATO phonetic alphabet: Alfa to Zulu
The spelling alphabet gives each letter a word, so letters are not mixed up on a bad radio or phone line. B, D, P and T sound alike on a noisy line. Bravo, Delta, Papa and Tango do not.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) made these words the standard for aviation radio in 1956. NATO and the ITU use the same list, so many people call it the NATO alphabet.
Two words have odd spellings on purpose. "Alfa" uses an f, because people who speak some other languages may not read "ph" as an f sound. "Juliett" has two t's, so French speakers do not leave the last t silent. Numbers have set forms too, like "Tree" for 3 and "Niner" for 9.
| Sign | Code word | Say it | Sign | Code word | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa | AL fah | S | Sierra | see AIR rah |
| B | Bravo | BRAH voh | T | Tango | TANG go |
| C | Charlie | CHAR lee | U | Uniform | YOU nee form |
| D | Delta | DELL tah | V | Victor | VIK tah |
| E | Echo | ECK oh | W | Whiskey | WISS key |
| F | Foxtrot | FOKS trot | X | X-ray | ECKS ray |
| G | Golf | GOLF | Y | Yankee | YANG key |
| H | Hotel | hoh TELL | Z | Zulu | ZOO loo |
| I | India | IN dee ah | 0 | Zero | ZE ro |
| J | Juliett | JEW lee ett | 1 | One | WUN |
| K | Kilo | KEY loh | 2 | Two | TOO |
| L | Lima | LEE mah | 3 | Tree | TREE |
| M | Mike | MIKE | 4 | Fower | FOW er |
| N | November | no VEM ber | 5 | Fife | FIFE |
| O | Oscar | OSS cah | 6 | Six | SIX |
| P | Papa | pah PAH | 7 | Seven | SEV en |
| Q | Quebec | keh BECK | 8 | Eight | AIT |
| R | Romeo | ROW me oh | 9 | Niner | NIN er |
The capital letters in "Say it" show the stressed part.
Practice spelling with code words
Spelling out names and codes on the phone helps avoid mistakes, for example with a booking number or an email address. Say each code word clearly and leave a short pause between them. If you read passwords out loud, make a passphrase that is easy to spell.
Spell CAT Word 1 of 5
Type the code words and press Check.
Wikipedia has the full history of the spelling alphabet. Want the same word in Morse, Braille or flags? The symbol alphabet translator shows all five at once.