Cursive letters / K
Cursive K: capital and lowercase k
To write cursive K, start the capital with a curl at the headline and slant the stem down to the baseline. Then curve the arm in from the upper right to touch the stem and kick the leg out to the baseline. Lowercase k loops up to the headline, comes down, buckles at the midline, and exits on an undercurve.
Specimen
Capital K and lowercase k in traditional school cursive.
Copy and paste cursive K
Paste-ready script letters for a bio, caption, or text: 𝒦 𝓀 𝓚 𝓴. More looks in the cursive generator.
Copy box
Script
𝒦𝓀
Bold script
𝓚𝓴
Italic
𝐾𝑘
Bold italic
𝑲𝒌
This is Unicode text, not a handwriting font. It will look different in every app.
Write
How to write K in cursive
Capital K
Watch the pen. Each number appears where its step starts; the steps below match.
Capital K, step by step
- Start on the left just under the headline. Curl up to the headline and run a short wave to the right.
- Slant the stem straight down to the baseline, then lift.
- Start the second stroke at the headline, right of the stem, with a small curl. Sweep down and left to touch the stem just below the midline.
- Kick the leg down and right to the baseline and finish with an undercurve that joins the next letter.
The whole capital K in one read
Capital K takes two strokes. Start on the left, just under the headline, with a small curl that rises to the headline and runs a short wave to the right. From the end of that wave, slant the stem straight down to the baseline and lift. The second stroke begins at the headline, to the right of the stem, with another small curl. Sweep down and to the left so the stroke comes in to touch the stem just below the midline. From there, kick the leg down and to the right to the baseline and finish with an undercurve that swings up. That undercurve carries straight into the next lowercase letter, so capital K joins in this style.
Lowercase k
Watch the pen. Each number appears where its step starts; the steps below match.
Lowercase k, step by step
- Start on the baseline. Curve up to the headline, loop left, and slant a straight downstroke back to the baseline.
- Retrace up the stem to just below the midline. Swing out to the right in a small closed buckle that pinches back against the stem.
- Kick the leg down and right to the baseline and end with a short undercurve.
The whole lowercase k in one read
Lowercase k begins on the baseline with a lead-in that curves up and to the right all the way to the headline. Turn left into a narrow loop and bring a straight, slanted downstroke back to the baseline. So far it matches h and l. Now retrace up the stem to just below the midline and swing out to the right into a small closed loop, the buckle, which comes back in to pinch against the stem. From that pinch, kick the leg down and to the right to the baseline and end with a short undercurve. The buckle sits at the midline, well below the tall loop.
Join
Joining k to other letters
k into e
After the buckle, k's leg reaches the baseline and its undercurve rises straight into e. The connector does not climb to the midline first. It turns back to the left partway up to make e's small loop, which just reaches the midline, then e comes down to the baseline and exits. Look at the heights side by side: the buckle and the top of e sit at about the same level, so the pair reads as one low band beside k's tall loop.
k into n
The undercurve from k's leg climbs to the midline and rolls straight over into n's first hump. n does not get its own starting hook here, because k's exit takes its place. Come down n's first slant to the baseline, retrace, make the second hump, and finish with n's exit. The buckle and n's humps all live at the midline, so keep the buckle small or it crowds the first hump and the two letters run together.
k into a
a starts at the top of its oval, so k's undercurve has to travel all the way up to the midline, arriving at the right side of a's top. From there, curve back to the left over the top and around counterclockwise to close the oval. Then slant down a's right side to the baseline and exit. The closed oval sits right beside the buckle, and both should reach the same height. Stopping the connector short leaves a open at the top.
Watch for
Common cursive k mistakes
A hump where the buckle should be
After the tall loop and downstroke, some writers retrace and roll over an open hump, like the second half of n. That shape is h. The difference is small but clear: k's stroke at the midline curls into a closed buckle that pinches back against the stem before the leg kicks out. h's hump never comes back to touch the stem. If you can see open space between the stem and the second stroke all the way down, you wrote h.
A belly with no leg
If the buckle grows into a round belly and the stroke leaves from the midline without a second trip to the baseline, the letter becomes b. Both letters share the tall loop, so the ending decides which one you wrote. k's buckle is small, and a separate leg must kick down to the baseline before the exit. b swings its bowl up from the bottom of the stem and exits at the midline. Check the bottom: k touches the baseline twice, b only once.
Printing the capital
Capital K is often written as a printed K: a straight stem and two straight diagonals meeting in a point. The cursive capital is softer. Both strokes open with a small curl at the headline, the arm curves in to touch the stem just below the midline, and the leg ends in an undercurve. Without that undercurve, the capital stops dead on the baseline and cannot join the next letter, which is exactly what it should do in this style.
Free cursive K worksheet
Sheets use Playwrite US Trad, a traditional US school cursive.
Free, no sign-up. The PDF builds in this browser.
Practicing more than one letter? Get all 26 in the Complete Cursive Workbook, $9.
Cursive K questions
How do you write a capital K in cursive?
Capital K takes two strokes. Start on the left, just under the headline, with a small curl that rises to the headline and runs a short wave to the right. From the end of that wave, slant the stem straight down to the baseline and lift.
How do you write a lowercase k in cursive?
Lowercase k begins on the baseline with a lead-in that curves up and to the right all the way to the headline. Turn left into a narrow loop and bring a straight, slanted downstroke back to the baseline. So far it matches h and l.
Does cursive capital K connect to the next letter?
Yes. In traditional cursive the capital K carries its last stroke into the next lowercase letter, so a word like "Kick" is written without lifting after the capital.
What is the most common mistake with cursive k?
A hump where the buckle should be. After the tall loop and downstroke, some writers retrace and roll over an open hump, like the second half of n. That shape is h.
Can I copy and paste a cursive K?
Yes. The copy box on this page gives you Unicode script letters (Kk) that paste into bios, captions, and messages. They look like cursive but are a font-style symbol, not handwriting. For a printed sheet, use the free K worksheet on this page.