NATO phonetic alphabet converter

What it is for

Reading a reference number, a postcode or a surname down a phone line goes wrong in predictable places: M and N, B and P, S and F, D and T. The phonetic alphabet replaces each letter with a word chosen so that no two can be confused, even over a bad connection.

Alfa, not Alpha

Two of the words are deliberately misspelled in the standard. Alfa is written with an F because in many languages "ph" is not read as an F sound. Juliett takes a second T because a single final T is silent in French. They are spelling mistakes on purpose, so that speakers of any language say them the same way.

The digits get the same treatment. Niner keeps nine from being heard as the German "nein", and three and four become Tree and Fower to drop consonants that carry badly over radio.

Both directions

Reading out is the obvious use. The reverse is just as common and rarely provided: somebody has read you a reference and you have written down the words. Paste them in and get the characters back. Matching is on the first three letters, so Alpha and Alfa, Juliet and Juliett all resolve to the same letter.

How to use it well

1. Say the character first, then the word: "B for Bravo". The listener then has two chances at it.
2. Group long strings and pause between the groups.
3. Read digits one at a time. "One five" cannot be misheard as fifty; "fifteen" can.
4. Confirm at the end by having it read back to you.

Related tools

The text case converter and character count are useful alongside this when preparing something to be read out.