Cursive Words

Cursive Letters A to Z

Pick a letter to watch it being written stroke by stroke, read the steps and print a practice sheet. Prefer one page? Use the printable alphabet chart, the lowercase and uppercase alphabets, or the alphabet worksheets.

Lowercase cursive letters

Lowercase aLowercase bLowercase cLowercase dLowercase eLowercase fLowercase gLowercase hLowercase iLowercase jLowercase kLowercase lLowercase mLowercase nLowercase oLowercase pLowercase qLowercase rLowercase sLowercase tLowercase uLowercase vLowercase wLowercase xLowercase yLowercase z

Capital cursive letters

Capital ACapital BCapital CCapital DCapital ECapital FCapital GCapital HCapital ICapital JCapital KCapital LCapital MCapital NCapital OCapital PCapital QCapital RCapital SCapital TCapital UCapital VCapital WCapital XCapital YCapital Z

Learn the letters in families

Teachers usually introduce cursive in groups of letters that start with the same movement. Learning one movement unlocks several letters at once.

FamilyLettersHow they start
Oval lettersacdgoqStart just under the midline at the top right of an oval and travel counterclockwise, up and over to the left first.
Loop lettersbefhklSweep up from the baseline into a loop, then come back down through the crossing point.
Down-stroke lettersijtuwyStart at the top of the letter and pull a slanted stroke down to the baseline.
Hump lettersmnvxzStart with a small hook at the midline, then roll over the top into a hump or slant.
Swing-up lettersprsSwing up from the baseline to a sharp peak, then come back down.
Oval capitalsACEOStart at the top right and circle counterclockwise like a large oval letter.
Stem-and-bowl capitalsBDPRDraw a slanted stem first, retrace it, then swing out into a rounded bowl.
Wave-top capitalsFTWrite the wavy top stroke first, then add the stem and crossbar.
Loop capitalsGIJLQSSweep up into a large loop and come back down through it.
Hook-and-slant capitalsHKMNUVWXYZBegin with a small hook near the top, pull a slant stroke down, then add humps or a second stroke.

Which capitals join the next letter?

In cursive, A, C, E, I, J, K, L, M, N, Q, R, U, X, Y, Z join the letter after them; B, D, F, G, H, O, P, S, T, V, W stand on their own. We measured this by rendering each capital beside a lowercase a and checking for a gap (how the site checks letters).

Questions

How many letters are in the cursive alphabet?

52: 26 lowercase and 26 capital letters. Each has its own page here with stroke order and a worksheet.

What is the hardest cursive letter?

Many learners find the capitals that look unlike print hardest, such as G, Q and Z, plus lowercase r, s and z. Their pages break the movement into numbered steps.

Should lowercase or capital letters come first?

Most programs teach lowercase first because they make up most of any word and share a few starting movements. Capitals follow once the lowercase joins are steady.