How to Write Congratulations in Cursive

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · October 2026 · How we review content

"Congratulations" in Playwrite US Trad, a typeface modelled on traditional school cursive.

Congratulations has fifteen letters and runs across a whole card, so the writing has to stay even from the first C to the last s. The word has two t letters to cross, a g with a descender, a run of humps and a u and an n that must not be confused. A steady slant and equal letter widths do most of the work.

Copy and paste "Congratulations" in cursive

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Letter by letter

Each distinct letter in "Congratulations" has its own stroke-by-stroke page.

The joins in Congratulations

Co: The capital C starts with a curve at the top and sweeps left and round. Carry its finishing stroke into the o and keep the o small and closed, so the C stays the dominant letter.
ng: The n hump finishes at the baseline and rises into the g oval. Close the oval, then drop the stem below the line and loop left back to the baseline, so the g descender does not cross the next line.
gr: The g loop returns to the baseline and exits straight into the r. Start the r with a short upstroke and shoulder; the descender of the g must be closed, or the r seems to float.
at: In the at pair, the a's exit climbs from the baseline into the tall t. The t is a stem with a short rise. Cross it after the word is done with one horizontal stroke through both t letters if the spacing allows.
tu: The t exits at the baseline and rises into the u. The u has two points at the top and a closing stroke, so keep its downstrokes short and parallel. If you round the points, it reads as an n.
io: The i exits at the baseline and climbs to the o. Dot the i after the word and keep the o closed, with its bridge leading to the n.

Tricky spots

Two t crossbars: Cross both t letters at the same height, a little above the midline, and after the full word is written. Crossing as you go breaks the flow and shifts the slant.
Descender of the g: The g is the only letter with a tail below the line. Keep it the same width as the other loops, and close it back to the baseline, not out to the side.
The u and n pair: The word has u and n close together, and both are made of short downstrokes. Make the u points sharp and the n humps round, so the two stay distinct at a glance.
Running out of room: Fifteen letters take a lot of width. Mark the line first, or write the word in two parts, Con and gratulations, on separate lines for a small card.

Capitals

On a card, capitalise the C: Congratulations. The cursive capital C is a big open curve that ends in a small loop, and it joins the o through that last stroke. For a text caption or a casual note, lowercase congratulations is fine and starts with a plain c, which is a short open curve.

Variations and styles

For a graduation card, write the word in a large pointed pen with thick downstrokes on the C, g and t. For a small greeting, split it into two lines, Congrat above ulations, keeping the same slant. Adding a swash from the last s under the word gives the card a finished look.

Printable practice sheet

Trace the grey letters, then write your own on the empty lines. Prints on one page (Letter or A4).

Cursive practice: Congratulations

Name: ____________________ coolletteringgenerator.com

Copy-paste versions of Congratulations

Congratulations in script is 𝒞ℴ𝓃ℊ𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃𝓈 and in bold script 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼. Regular script borrows ℊ (U+210A) for g and ℴ (U+2134) for each o, so some letters can look different from their neighbours in some fonts. Bold script has no borrowed letters and stays even, but it is long, so check any character limit.

Congratulations in cursive: questions

How do you write congratulations in cursive?

Write a capital C, then join c-o-n-g-r-a-t-u-l-a-t-i-o-n-s in one flowing line with the g descender closed, a looped l, and both t letters crossed at the end. Keep an even slant and equal letter width so the long word does not drift.

Where should the t crossbars go in congratulations?

Cross each t a little above the midline, after you finish the whole word. The two t letters, in the at and ti runs, sit far apart, so cross each one separately and keep the bars the same length. Crossing as you go breaks the long connected line.

How do I stop the word from running off the page?

Mark the start and end with light pencil lines and divide the width by fifteen letters. Narrow letters such as i and l take less room than o or g. If the word is still too long, shrink the letter size rather than splitting it, because Congrat and ulations reads awkwardly.

Can I copy congratulations in cursive text?

Yes, use the script or bold script versions above. Plain script borrows ℊ for the g and ℴ for both o letters, so bold script looks more even. Fifteen letters in script symbols can be tiring for screen readers, so add a plain-text version of the greeting too.