Morse code is made up of dots and dashes. How did telegraph operators keep from losing track of where one letter ended and another began?

Question

In the movies, morse code comes through so fast it’s hard to tell a dot from a dash. Hoe did they keep from getting lost?

In: 1001

Answer 1

It’s based on the length of the dash. Spaces between the integers of the letter are 1 dash length (time) apart. The spaces between letters are 3 dash lengths (time) separate. The spaces between words are 7 lengths apart. Last did it years ago but that’s what I recall