Joining Cursive Letters
Cursive is the joins. There are only four kinds — from the baseline, from the midline after a bridge letter, into an oval, and after a capital — and once each one is in your hand, any word is just a sequence of them.
The four joins
Baseline join
The common case. The first letter ends with an undercurve tail on the baseline, and the next letter simply starts from that tail. Most pairs in most words are this join.
an it el hi up ta
Bridge join
b, o, v, w end at the midline. Their exit is a short level bridge, and the next letter begins up there — its entry stroke is shortened or skipped. This is the join beginners find hardest.
on be ov we or wh
Join into an oval
When the next letter is a, c, d, g, o or q, the tail rises to the midline and goes straight into the top of the oval. Stop at the midline — a tail that overshoots leaves a hook inside the oval.
ca ed ig la to sq
After a capital
Capitals that end with a tail join the next letter like any baseline join. After B, D, F, I, O, P, S, T, V, W, X you lift the pen and start the lowercase letter on its own.
An Ca Me Be Ti Do
Pairs that trip people up
br — A bridge into r: the r's shoulder sits right on the bridge, so keep it small.
os — A bridge into s: start the s from the midline, not the baseline, and keep it short.
ve — A bridge into e: the e's loop is drawn from the midline, so it looks flatter than usual.
wr — Bridge into r again — write, wrong and wrap all use it.
ox — Bridge into x, then the cross stroke afterwards.
ff — Two loops above and two below in a row; keep both stems on the same slant.
Which letters end where
End on the baseline (tail join)
a c d e f g h i j k l m n p q r s t u x y z
End at the midline (bridge join)
b o v w
Four letters, and each one changes where the next letter starts: cursive b, cursive o, cursive v, cursive w.
Capitals you lift the pen after
B D F I O P S T V W X
Every other capital ends with a tail and joins. See capital letters.
Joining letters practice sheet
One row per kind of join, then the tricky pairs, then words that use them. When the pairs feel automatic, take them into whole cursive words and then into full sentences, where spacing between words becomes the thing to watch.
Joining cursive letters
Pair drills — model, then trace
Name ______________________ Date __________
Baseline join
Bridge join
Join into an oval
After a capital
Tricky pairs
Words
On your own
cursivealphabet.pro — free cursive practice sheets
Join questions
Do all cursive letters connect?
All lowercase letters do. Among capitals, most end with a tail and connect, but eleven do not: B, D, F, I, O, P, S, T, V, W, X. After those you lift the pen and begin the next letter separately.
Why does the letter after o look different?
Because o is a bridge letter — it finishes at the midline instead of the baseline, so the next letter starts from the midline and loses its usual entry stroke. The same happens after b, v and w. Compare an with on: the n is the same letter, but its start is different.
How do I practise cursive joins?
In pairs, not in words. Write a two-letter pair across a whole row — an an an — then a pair of each join type, then put them into a word. The practice sheet on this page has one row for each kind of join.
Should letters in a word be evenly spaced?
Yes: the gap between letters is set by the exit stroke, and if every exit stroke is the same length, the spacing takes care of itself. Uneven spacing almost always means some exit tails are being cut short.