How to Write R in Cursive

How to write a cursive capital R

The traditional cursive capital R is drawn like a capital P with a leg: a slanted stem, a retrace, a bowl that returns to the stem, a small loop or turn there and a leg that kicks out to the baseline and connects.

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

1. 1Begin on the top line and draw the stem as one straight slanted stroke down to the baseline.
2. 2Retrace up the stem to the top line, staying on the line you drew.
3. 3Curve forward to the right in a rounded bowl and bring it back to the stem at about the midline.
4. 4Make a small loop or tight turn where the bowl meets the stem, then curve out to the right.
5. 5Slant the leg down to the baseline and finish with an undercurve that joins the next letter.

Connecting: Capital R connects from its final undercurve, so Ra, Re and Ro join without a lift. Many older forms start R with a small upward hook or loop at the top of the stem, the same opening those hands use for P and B.

How to write a cursive lowercase r

Lowercase cursive r climbs to a sharp peak a little above the midline, moves right in a short shoulder stroke and drops straight to the baseline before exiting.

Start: On the baseline, from the previous letter's exit. · Letter family: Peaked letters, with s: both r and s rise to a point just above the midline before they turn.

1. 1Make an undercurve from the baseline up to a point slightly above the midline.
2. 2Stop sharply at the peak and make a short, almost flat stroke to the right. This is the shoulder.
3. 3From the end of the shoulder, slant straight down to the baseline.
4. 4Curve into an undercurve exit that rises to the midline for the next letter.

Connecting: Lowercase r joins on both sides with undercurves. The tricky entries come after bridge letters (or, br, wr, vr), where the r has to start from the midline and still climb to its peak.

Joining r to other letters

• oror: From o's bridge, push the stroke up a little to make the peak, then the shoulder and the drop. A bridge that runs flat into the downstroke loses the peak, and 'for' reads as 'fov'.
• rrrr: In carrot, error and sorry, the two r's must look identical. Give each its own peak and shoulder, and make the connecting stroke between them about as wide as a shoulder.
• brbr: b also ends in a midline bridge, so br works like or. Rise slightly from the b's bridge into the r peak, as in brown and bring, instead of sliding straight into the downstroke.
• rere: After r's drop, the undercurve exit loops straight into e. Keep the e below the r's shoulder so the r stays the taller letter and 'here' doesn't look like 'hece'.

Common mistakes with cursive R

• Rounding the top of the r

  Make a sharp point at the peak and a flat shoulder. A rounded top makes r look like half of an n, especially in words like run and rain.

• Skipping the shoulder

  Without the small flat stroke to the right, r is just an up-and-down spike and reads as an undotted i. The shoulder is what makes it an r.

• Making the peak too tall

  The peak rises only just above the midline, not toward the top line. A tall r competes with t and l and is easily read as an uncrossed t.

• Leaving the leg off capital R

  After the bowl meets the stem, turn and kick the leg out to the baseline. Without it, R is a capital P, and Rachel becomes Pachel.

Easily confused with: Lowercase r is misread as i (no shoulder), n or v (rounded or pointed top) and s (when the drop curves back). Capital R is confused with capital P (missing leg) and with B (oversized bowl, looped leg).

Practice words with r

• Rachel
• rainbow
• river
• carrot
• error
• March

Cursive R: questions