Cursive letters / M
Cursive M: capital and lowercase m
To write cursive M, start the capital with a small hook just under the headline, slant down to the baseline, then retrace and make two arches that reach the headline before an undercurve joins the next letter. Lowercase m is the same pattern at half height: a hook under the midline, three downstrokes, two rounded humps, and a short exit.
Specimen
Capital M and lowercase m in traditional school cursive.
Copy and paste cursive M
Paste-ready script letters for a bio, caption, or text: ℳ 𝓂 𝓜 𝓶. More looks in the cursive generator.
Copy box
Script
ℳ𝓂
Bold script
𝓜𝓶
Italic
𝑀𝑚
Bold italic
𝑴𝒎
This is Unicode text, not a handwriting font. It will look different in every app.
Write
How to write M in cursive
Capital M
Watch the pen. Each number appears where its step starts; the steps below match.
Capital M, step by step
- Start on the left just below the headline with a small hook that curves up to the headline.
- Slant a straight downstroke to the baseline.
- Retrace up, roll over an arch at the headline, and slant down to the baseline. Repeat for a second arch.
- Finish with an undercurve that turns up and joins the next letter.
The whole capital M in one read
Capital M starts on the left, a little below the headline, with a small hook that curves up to the headline. From the top of that hook, slant a straight downstroke to the baseline. Retrace up that line, roll over a rounded arch at the headline, and slant down to the baseline again. Retrace once more, make a second arch at the headline, and come down to the baseline a third time. Finish with an undercurve that turns up to the right. That gives three downstrokes and two arches, with both arches reaching the headline. The final undercurve carries the pen into the next letter, so capital M joins.
Lowercase m
Watch the pen. Each number appears where its step starts; the steps below match.
Lowercase m, step by step
- Start just below the midline with a small hook that curves up to the midline, then slant down to the baseline.
- Retrace up, roll over a rounded hump at the midline, and slant down to the baseline.
- Retrace again, make a second hump, come down to the baseline, and end with a short undercurve.
The whole lowercase m in one read
Lowercase m starts just below the midline with a small hook, not with a stroke up from the baseline. Curve up to the midline and slant down to the baseline. Retrace up, roll over a rounded hump at the midline, and slant down again. Retrace a second time, make another hump, come down to the baseline, and end with a short undercurve to the right. Count the downstrokes: three. The tops are round and the bottoms are sharp retraces. Inside a word, the letter before m replaces the hook, as in am, where a's exit climbs straight into m's first slant.
Zaner-Bloser vs D’Nealian
Join
Joining m to other letters
m into a
m's third downstroke reaches the baseline and the exit swings straight up to the midline, arriving at the top right of a. From there, curve back to the left over the top and around counterclockwise to close the oval, then slant down a's right side and exit. The top of a should line up with m's two humps along the midline. If the connector turns back early, the oval sits low and open and looks like a fourth leg of m.
m into e
After three sharp retraces, e is the first loop in the pair. m's exit rises from the baseline and turns back to the left partway up, drawing e's small loop in one motion. The loop tops out at the midline, level with m's humps, then e comes down to the baseline and exits. Keep the loop open and round. If it squeezes shut into a single pointed stroke, me reads as mi with a missing dot.
m into i
i looks like one more stroke of m with the arch taken off. m's exit climbs to the midline and comes to a sharp point, then i slants straight back down to the baseline and exits. The difference is the turn at the top: m's humps are round, but the top of i is a retrace. Round it over and the i becomes a third hump, so mi looks like an m with an extra leg. Dot the i last.
Watch for
Common cursive m mistakes
One hump short
Lowercase m has three downstrokes and two humps. Stop after the first hump and the letter is n. This happens most in words with several humped letters in a row, like mine or common, where it is easy to lose count. Before moving on, check that the letter has three legs on the baseline. In the pair ma, the a should follow two humps, not one.
Rounding the bottoms instead of the tops
m is round on top and sharp at the bottom, because each downstroke retraces straight back up. If you curve along the baseline between strokes instead, and come to points at the midline, the humps flip upside down into cups. The letter then reads as w or as a pair of u's. Say it to yourself while writing: down, back up the same line, then over.
A capital that stops at the midline
Capital M's two arches reach all the way to the headline, and the opening hook starts just under it. If the arches only climb to the midline, the letter is just a lowercase m, and a name like Mia loses its capital. The capital should stand about twice as tall as the lowercase letters beside it, with the same three-leg pattern stretched from the headline to the baseline.
Free cursive M 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 M questions
How do you write a capital M in cursive?
Capital M starts on the left, a little below the headline, with a small hook that curves up to the headline. From the top of that hook, slant a straight downstroke to the baseline. Retrace up that line, roll over a rounded arch at the headline, and slant down to the baseline again.
How do you write a lowercase m in cursive?
Lowercase m starts just below the midline with a small hook, not with a stroke up from the baseline. Curve up to the midline and slant down to the baseline. Retrace up, roll over a rounded hump at the midline, and slant down again.
Does cursive capital M connect to the next letter?
Yes. In traditional cursive the capital M carries its last stroke into the next lowercase letter, so a word like "Me" is written without lifting after the capital.
What is the most common mistake with cursive m?
One hump short. Lowercase m has three downstrokes and two humps. Stop after the first hump and the letter is n.
Can I copy and paste a cursive M?
Yes. The copy box on this page gives you Unicode script letters (Mm) 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 M worksheet on this page.
Is cursive m the same in Zaner-Bloser and D’Nealian?
In D'Nealian the humps of capital M reach the headline, while Zaner-Bloser keeps them just under it. The M shown here touches the headline, so lower the humps slightly to match a Zaner-Bloser chart.