Cursive P

How to write uppercase P and lowercase p in cursive, one stroke at a time.

Cursive p begins like i, drops a stem below the baseline, then comes back up to draw its bowl. The stem has no loop — it is a straight retrace, which is what tells p apart from j. The capital P is a stem with a single bowl and, like B and D, does not connect to the letter after it.

Stroke family: Undercurve letters
Height: p is a descender letter — part of it drops below the baseline. p and the other descender letters
Joins the next letter: Lowercase: yes, from the baseline. Capital: no — lift the pen. The baseline join p uses
Often confused with: cursive j, cursive b, cursive n

Print the P practice sheet Stroke by stroke

Cursive P and p: the pen path, drawn in order

How to write a lowercase p in cursive

Start at the baseline; finish at the baseline, with an exit tail. One continuous stroke.

Start on the baseline with an undercurve up to the midline.
Slant straight down through the baseline into the descender space.
Retrace back up the stem to the midline.
Curve over to the right and round down to form the bowl, closing it at the baseline, then finish with an undercurve to the midline.

Lowercase cursive p

Capital cursive P

How to write a capital P in cursive

Start at the top line; finish at the stem, at the midline (pen lifts). Capital P does not join the next letter: finish it, lift the pen, and begin the next letter on its own. P beside the other capitals that need a pen lift

Start at the top line and draw a slant stroke straight down to the baseline.
Retrace up the stem to the top.
Curve out to the right and round down to the midline, bringing the bowl back to touch the stem.

How to write cursive P: the pen path for uppercase P and lowercase p with direction arrows on ruled paper — Cursive P pen path — arrows show the direction the pen travels.

Cursive P: uppercase P and lowercase p on ruled paper — Cursive P and p — blue top line, dashed midline, red baseline.

Common mistakes with cursive P

Looping the descender — a looped stem below the line turns p into a j with a bowl.
Making the bowl too small or leaving it open, so it reads as an n.
Not retracing all the way back to the midline before starting the bowl; the bowl should sit between the midline and the baseline.

Tips that help

Say "up, down, up, around" — that is the full stroke order.
The descender of p is as deep as the loop of g, but straight.

The pen path on this page is traced from the letterform automatically, and for p the trace did not come out as the single continuous stroke it is taught with — so the drawing shows the path in one colour, without numbers or arrows, rather than claiming a stroke order it cannot verify.

Practice words with p

Once the letter is comfortable on its own, write it inside words — that is where the joins happen. Watch how the exit tail of p rises to meet the next letter.

pen

pig

paper

purple

puppy

Want different words? Type a spelling list into the generator and print your own p sheet (letters A–Z and numbers, up to 24 lines of any length, US Letter or A4), or copy more words that use p from the word lists.

Free cursive P worksheet

Capital P and lowercase p: a model to copy, grey letters to write over, dotted letters to trace, two practice words, and blank rows to finish on your own. Prints on one US Letter page.

Prints on one US Letterpage. Choose “Save as PDF” in the print dialog to download.

Cursive P practice sheet

Uppercase P · lowercase p · pen · pig

Name ______________________ Date __________

Capital P

Lowercase p

Together

Words

On your own

cursivealphabet.pro — free cursive practice sheets

p and its stroke family

Undercurve letters begin with a stroke that swings up from the baseline: i, u, w, t, j, p, r, s, e, l, b, h, k and f. Learn i and u first — every other letter in the group is built on that same entry stroke.

Families are also the order to learn in, rather than A to Z: the beginner’s guide covers when p is usually taught and the four strokes every letter is built from.

← Cursive O Cursive Q →P in the whole alphabet

Cursive P questions

How do you write a lowercase p in cursive?

Undercurve to the midline, slant straight down below the baseline, retrace back up to the midline, then curve around to the right to draw the bowl down to the baseline and exit with a tail. The stem below the line is straight, not looped.

How do you write a capital P in cursive?

Draw a stem from the top line down to the baseline, retrace up, and add a single bowl from the top that curves back to the stem at the midline. Capital P does not connect to the next letter.

Does cursive p have a loop below the line?

No. The descender of p is a straight stroke that you retrace back up before drawing the bowl. The looped descenders belong to f, g, j, q, y and z; p is the exception in that group.

What are some good words to practise cursive p with?

Good practice words for cursive p are pen, pig, paper, purple and puppy. The join is what to watch: the undercurve out of p has to reach the baseline before the next letter starts, or the two run together. Watch the tail too: p should drop a full space below the baseline and come back up without cutting into the next letter. The practice sheet on this page rules the first two, pen and pig; the worksheet generator will rule the rest.