Cursive R: how to write the letter R in cursive
The lowercase cursive r is an undercurve, a short slide to the right at the midline, then a slant down: in Zaner-Bloser terms, undercurve, slide right, slant, undercurve. It belongs to the undercurve letters (start with a swing up from the baseline) and is one of the harder letters to learn. Below you will find the capital and lowercase R on three-line guides, stroke-by-stroke instructions, practice words, and a free printable worksheet in the same school cursive style.
Lowercase r at a glance
- Strokes
- 1 (undercurve, slide right, slant, undercurve)
- Starts
- at the baseline
- Ends
- with an undercurve up to the midline
- Family
- undercurve letters
Capital R at a glance
- Strokes
- 1 (undercurve, slant, retrace, curve around, double curve, undercurve)
- Starts
- at the baseline
- Next letter
- joins without lifting the pencil
Capital cursive R
Lowercase cursive r
Free cursive R worksheet
Cursive R practice worksheet
1 page · US Letter, prints on A4 · free
Capital R and lowercase r to trace, copy and write on your own, plus four practice words (rat, run, red, rain). Three-line guides, standard school cursive.
How to write a lowercase r in cursive
- Start at the baseline. Make an undercurve up to the midline.
- Slide right a tiny distance along the midline to make the shoulder.
- Slant down to the baseline, then make an undercurve up to the midline to join the next letter.
Tip: r is the letter most adults get wrong. The slide right is tiny: think of a small step, not a hump.
How to write a capital R in cursive
- Start at the baseline. Make an undercurve up to the topline, then slant down to the baseline.
- Retrace up the slant and curve around to the right to make the bowl, closing it at the midline.
- Make a double curve down to the baseline for the leg, then an undercurve up to the midline. The capital R joins the next letter.
The capital R joins the next letter, so names and sentence openers are written in one motion.
Cursive words with the letter r
Practice the r inside real words so the joins become automatic. All of these appear on the worksheet.
Each of these words has its own page with the joins explained: see cursive words.
Common mistakes with the cursive R
- Making the shoulder too big so the r looks like a v or an n.
- Skipping the slide right, which produces an i without a dot.
Letters that use the same motion
The r is easier to master alongside letters that start the same way. Practice these together:
Cursive R questions
Does the capital R connect to the next letter in cursive?
Yes. In standard school cursive the capital R ends with an exit stroke that joins the next letter, so a word like "Rat" is written without lifting the pencil.
Where does the lowercase r end?
The lowercase r ends on the baseline with an upward exit stroke. The next letter starts from that stroke, which keeps the whole word connected.
Is the cursive R hard to learn?
The r is one of the harder letters of the cursive alphabet. r is the letter most adults get wrong. The slide right is tiny: think of a small step, not a hump.
Which cursive style is the R shown in?
The letters on this page and in the worksheet use the standard school cursive taught in most US classrooms (the Zaner-Bloser style). D'Nealian cursive differs slightly in slant and in a few capitals, but the strokes described here apply to both.