Cursive R

How to write uppercase R and lowercase r in cursive, one stroke at a time.

Cursive r is short, but it is one of the letters people most often get wrong, because its "shoulder" is easy to overdo. It begins with an undercurve like i, then makes a small hook at the midline, dips slightly, and slants down. The capital R is a P with an extra leg.

Stroke family: Undercurve letters
Height: r is a short letter — it stays between the baseline and the midline. r and the other short letters
Joins the next letter: Lowercase: yes, from the baseline. Capital: yes. The baseline join r uses
Often confused with: cursive n, cursive i, cursive s

Print the R practice sheet Stroke by stroke

Cursive R and r: the pen path, drawn in order

How to write a lowercase r 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.
At the midline, make a small hook: go slightly up and over to the right, then dip a little — this is the shoulder.
Slant down to the baseline and finish with an undercurve to the midline.

Lowercase cursive r

Capital cursive R

How to write a capital R in cursive

Start at the top line; finish at the baseline, with an exit tail. Capital R ends with an exit stroke, so it joins the lowercase letter that follows without lifting the pen. R beside the other capitals that join

Start at the top line and draw a slant stroke straight down to the baseline.
Retrace up the stem and curve out to the right to form a bowl that returns to the stem at the midline.
From the midline, slant down and out to the right to the baseline and finish with an undercurve to the midline.

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

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

Common mistakes with cursive R

Making the shoulder too tall or too wide, so the r reads as an n.
Skipping the shoulder and writing a plain i without a dot — the small dip is what makes it an r.
Rushing the r at the end of a word ("her", "for") into a shapeless bump.

Tips that help

Think of r as an i with a little shelf on top.
Write "ir", "er" and "or" — the r after a bridge letter (o) starts at the midline and its shoulder sits right on the bridge.

The pen path on this page is traced from the letterform automatically, and for r 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 r

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

red

rain

river

rabbit

ribbon

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

Free cursive R worksheet

Capital R and lowercase r: 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 R practice sheet

Uppercase R · lowercase r · red · rain

Name ______________________ Date __________

Capital R

Lowercase r

Together

Words

On your own

cursivealphabet.pro — free cursive practice sheets

r 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 r is usually taught and the four strokes every letter is built from.

← Cursive Q Cursive S →R in the whole alphabet

Cursive R questions

How do you write a lowercase r in cursive?

Undercurve up to the midline, make a small hook over to the right and dip slightly (the shoulder), then slant down to the baseline and exit with a tail. It is one stroke, and the shoulder is small.

How do you write a capital R in cursive?

Draw a stem from the top line to the baseline, retrace up and add a bowl that returns to the stem at the midline, then slant a leg down to the baseline and finish with a tail. Capital R connects to the next letter.

Why is cursive r so hard to read?

Because its shoulder is tiny and easily blurs into the surrounding letters. Keep a clear dip after the hook and make sure the letter is no taller than the midline.

What are some good words to practise cursive r with?

Good practice words for cursive r are red, rain, river, rabbit and ribbon. The join is what to watch: the undercurve out of r has to reach the baseline before the next letter starts, or the two run together. Watch the height too: r should stop at the midline, level with the short letters either side of it. The practice sheet on this page rules the first two, red and rain; the worksheet generator will rule the rest.