How to Write P in Cursive

How to write a cursive capital P

The traditional cursive capital P is a slanted stem with a rounded bowl at the top that curves back to meet the stem around the midline. It usually ends there without connecting.

Start: On the top line, at the top of the stem.

1. 1Start at the top line and pull a straight slant stroke down to the baseline.
2. 2Retrace back up the same stroke to the top line, keeping the pencil on the line you just drew.
3. 3Curve forward to the right and around in a rounded bowl that fills the upper half of the letter.
4. 4Bring the bowl back to touch or just cross the stem at about the midline, and stop.

Connecting: Capital P doesn't join the next letter in traditional school cursive, so lift and start the next letter close to the bowl, as in Paul or Peter. Older models begin P with a small upward hook at the top of the stem, and some writers swing the end of the bowl out into the next letter.

How to write a cursive lowercase p

Lowercase cursive p climbs from the baseline to the midline, drops in a straight descender below the baseline, comes back up and finishes with a closed bowl on the right that sits on the baseline.

Start: On the baseline, from the previous letter's stroke. · Letter family: Undercurve letters (i, t, u, w): p opens with the same baseline-to-midline undercurve, then adds a descender.

1. 1Make an undercurve from the baseline up to the midline, slanting right.
2. 2Slant straight down through the baseline to the descender line.
3. 3Come back up along the descender to the baseline, retracing it or leaving only a very slim loop.
4. 4Make an overcurve forward to the right, up to the midline and around, forming a rounded bowl.
5. 5Close the bowl by bringing the stroke back to the stem at the baseline, then exit with an undercurve to the right.

Connecting: Lowercase p joins on both sides. It starts from an undercurve and leaves from the baseline after closing the bowl, so pa, pe and pl connect easily. Palmer-trained writers often carry the opening upstroke above the midline, giving p a taller entry.

Joining p to other letters

• pppp: In apple, happy and puppy, the first p's exit rises straight into the second p's upstroke. Keep both descenders the same length and parallel, like two fence posts.
• plpl: From the bowl's baseline exit, climb all the way to the top line for the l's loop. Close the bowl fully first; an open bowl plus a tall loop makes 'pl' hard to read.
• opop: o's bridge leaves at the midline, so drop from the end of the bridge straight into p's descender. There is no separate upstroke, which is why 'shop' and 'stop' feel quicker to write.
• spsp: In spring and spot, the s closes on the baseline and its exit rises to the midline for p's upstroke. Make the s peak and the top of the p two separate points so they don't blur.

Common mistakes with cursive P

• Leaving the bowl open

  Bring the bowl back to touch the stem at the baseline before exiting. An open bowl makes p look like a descender stroke followed by an n or r.

• Looping the descender like a j

  Keep p's descender a straight line, retraced on the way up. A wide loop makes the stem look like a j or an f with a bowl attached.

• A stub of a descender

  Drop the stem well below the baseline, about as far as the bowl rises above it. A short stem pulls the bowl down and the p looks like an n or a squashed a.

• A doubled stem on capital P

  Retrace exactly over the downstroke. If the retrace drifts, capital P looks like it has two stems, or like a cursive capital R that lost its leg.

Easily confused with: Lowercase p gets confused with j or f (looped descender) and with n (short descender or open bowl). Capital P is often confused with capital R and, when the bowl is very large, with capital B.

Practice words with p

• Paul
• April
• puppy
• apple
• paper
• shopping

Cursive P: questions