Cursive Q
How to write uppercase Q and lowercase q in cursive, one stroke at a time.
Cursive q is the mirror of g below the line. The oval on top is the same one used by a and g; the difference is that q's lower loop swings to the right before returning to the baseline. The capital Q is an oval with a small loop at the bottom and a foot that runs out along the baseline.
- Stroke family
- Downcurve (oval) letters
- Height
- q is a descender letter — part of it drops below the baseline. q and the other descender letters
- Joins the next letter
- Lowercase: yes, from the baseline. Capital: yes. The baseline join q uses
How to write a lowercase q in cursive
Start at the midline; finish at the baseline, with an exit tail. One continuous stroke.
- Start at the midline. Curve counter-clockwise down to the baseline and round back up the right side, as for a.
- Retrace down the right side of the oval and continue past the baseline into the descender space.
- At the bottom, loop to the right and come back up to meet the stem just below the baseline.
- Finish with an undercurve to the midline.
Trace cursive q on screen with a finger or mouse — the board tells you if you start in the wrong place or go the wrong way.
Lowercase cursive q — numbers mark where each part of the stroke begins
Capital cursive Q — numbers mark where each part of the stroke begins
How to write a capital Q in cursive
Start inside the letter; finish at the baseline, with an exit stroke to the right. Capital Q ends with an exit stroke, so it joins the lowercase letter that follows without lifting the pen. Q beside the other capitals that join
- Start inside the letter, just above the baseline, with a short hook to the left, then rise up the left side and over the top (clockwise).
- Come down the right side and carry on round the bottom into a small loop on the left.
- From the loop, cut back across the bottom of the letter, through the crossing, and swing out to the right below the baseline in a shallow tail.
Common mistakes with cursive Q
- Looping to the left, which produces a g.
- Leaving the top oval open so the letter looks like a y turned around.
- Forgetting that q is almost always followed by u — the exit tail needs to rise to the midline to meet it.
Tips that help
- Practise "qu" as a single unit; in English you will rarely write q any other way.
- The q loop is exactly the g loop flipped — write "gq" side by side to see it.
Easy to mistake for 2 or g
Q is a full oval that closes before its tail crosses the baseline. The numeral 2 has no left side — it starts as a hook at the top. Cursive numbers
Identical above the baseline. Below it, the loop of g swings out to the LEFT of the stem; the loop of q bulges to the RIGHT. Cursive g
Can you tell Q from 2 at a glance? Take the reading test · Print a comparison practice sheet
Cursive Q, then and now
If you learned cursive from an older relative, or you are reading old handwriting, you may know this letter from the Palmer Method, the business hand that Zaner-Bloser eventually replaced in American schools. Here are the two side by side.
Palmer letters from A. N. Palmer’s The Palmer Method of Business Writing, a public-domain scan on Wikimedia Commons.
“Designers of different cursive styles never seemed to reach any agreement over whether it should look like the Arabic numeral 2 or it should look like a Latin capital O with a tail.”
In today’s school styles
- D'Nealian's capital Q is open on the left like a 2, and it joins the next letter.
- Zaner-Bloser's capital Q ends under the baseline and does not join the next letter.
From Cursive Workshop’s letter-by-letter comparison.
Which one to use
Both are correct, and which one you learned depends on the school style. If your Q will sit near numbers — an address, a form, a spreadsheet heading — the closed oval is the one less likely to be read as a 2.
Where Palmer, Zaner-Bloser and D’Nealian came from, and how their letters differ
Practice words with q
Once the letter is comfortable on its own, write it inside words — that is where the joins happen. Watch how the exit tail of q rises to meet the next letter.
Want different words? Type a spelling list into the generator and print your own q sheet (letters A–Z and numbers, up to 24 lines of any length, US Letter or A4), or copy more words that use q from the word lists.
q is among the least common letters in English, so it rarely comes up by chance. A pangram puts q into every line you write, which is the quickest way to keep it in practice.
Free cursive Q worksheet
Capital Q and lowercase q: 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.
Cursive Q practice sheet
Uppercase Q · lowercase q · quiz · quiet
Name ______________________ Date __________
Capital Q
Lowercase q
Together
Words
On your own
cursivealphabet.pro — free cursive practice sheets
q and its stroke family
Downcurve (oval) letters begin at the midline with a counter-clockwise curve that rounds down and back up: a, d, g, o and q close the oval, c leaves it open. Master that curve once and you have six letters.
Families are also the order to learn in, rather than A to Z: the beginner’s guide covers when q is usually taught and the four strokes every letter is built from.
Cursive Q questions
How do you write a lowercase q in cursive?
Make the oval of an a, retrace down the right side past the baseline, loop to the right and come back up to the stem just below the baseline, then exit with a tail. It is a g whose lower loop goes the other way.
How do you write a capital Q in cursive?
Start inside the letter with a short hook, go up the left side and over the top, down the right side and round into a small loop at the bottom left, then cut back across and out into a long tail to the right. It looks like an O with a tail and connects to the next letter.
Which way does the loop of cursive q go?
To the right. g, j, y and z loop to the left; q and f loop to the right. That one rule keeps g and q apart.
What are some good words to practise cursive q with?
Good practice words for cursive q are quiz, quiet, queen, quick and quilt. Close the oval of q each time before you move on; an oval left open at speed is the usual way it stops reading as q. Watch the tail too: q 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, quiz and quiet; the worksheet generator will rule the rest.
Cursive Alphabet — cursive Q