How to Write A in Cursive

How to write a cursive capital A

Traditional cursive capital A looks like an oversized lowercase a: a slanted oval that reaches the top line, closed by a straight stem and finished with an undercurve that can carry straight into the next letter.

Start: Just below the top line, at about the 2 o'clock position of the oval you are about to draw.

1. 1From just under the top line, curve up and over to the left, then pull down counterclockwise into a tall, slanted oval.
2. 2Round the bottom of the oval on the baseline and climb back up the right side to the top line, closing the shape where you began.
3. 3Without lifting, retrace straight down the right side of the oval along the slant line to the baseline.
4. 4Finish with a short undercurve that swings up and to the right, ending at the midline if a lowercase letter follows.

Connecting: Capital A joins the next letter in Zaner-Bloser, D'Nealian and most traditional hands: the final undercurve becomes the lead-in for the lowercase letter. Palmer-trained writers sometimes give A a pointed top instead of a rounded one; it still connects.

How to write a cursive lowercase a

Lowercase cursive a starts with a lead-in stroke to the midline, then draws a small counterclockwise oval, closes it, retraces down and leaves along the baseline.

Start: On the baseline when joined (from the previous letter's exit), or at the midline at 2 o'clock when a starts a word. · Letter family: Downcurve letters (a, d, g, o, q, c), which all start with the same over-and-back curve at the midline.

1. 1Swing up from the baseline to the midline with a short undercurve, stopping just right of where the oval will close.
2. 2Curve back over to the left along the midline, then down and around counterclockwise to the baseline.
3. 3Come back up the right side to the midline and close the oval tightly at the top, with no gap.
4. 4Retrace straight down along the right edge of the oval to the baseline.
5. 5Exit with an undercurve rising toward the midline, ready for the next letter.

Connecting: Lowercase a joins on both sides. It enters from the baseline and leaves from the baseline, so pairs like 'an' and 'at' flow without any bridge.

Joining a to other letters

• anan: The a exits at the baseline and the n begins with an overcurve hump. Let the exit rise into the first hump instead of making a separate point, or the n gains an extra bump and reads as m.
• arar: After the a, the exit climbs a little above the midline to make the r's peak. Keep the r short; if the exit stroke grows too tall, 'ar' starts to look like 'as' or 'al'.
• alal: The exit stroke of a turns straight into the tall upstroke of the l loop. Start curving upward early so the loop reaches the top line without a kink at the midline.
• oaoa: The o leaves from the midline with a bridge, so the a must start from up there. Dip the bridge slightly, then go straight into the over-and-back curve of the a; do not drop to the baseline first.

Common mistakes with cursive A

• Leaving a gap at the top of the oval

  Close the oval at the midline before retracing down. An open a looks like u, and 'clean' can be misread as 'cleun'.

• Starting the oval clockwise, from the bottom

  Begin at the top right and travel up, over and down to the left. A clockwise a cannot retrace its own right side and will not join cleanly.

• Looping the stem instead of retracing it

  Come straight down the right side of the oval on top of the line you just drew. A looped stem turns the letter into a lowercase o followed by an e.

• Making capital A no taller than the lowercase

  The capital oval should reach the top line, roughly twice the height of the lowercase a. If it stops at the midline it looks like a mistake rather than a capital.

Easily confused with: Lowercase cursive a is confused with o (no stem), u (open top) and d (stem too tall). Capital A is sometimes read as a large O when the closing stem is skipped.

Practice words with a

• Anna
• Austin
• apple
• always
• banana
• travel

Cursive A: questions