Cursive letters / R
Cursive R: capital and lowercase r
Cursive R flicks up to the headline, drops a stem to the baseline, then adds a bowl ending in a small curl at the midline and a leg that kicks down and joins the next letter. Lowercase r rises from the baseline to a small peak above the midline, steps right, and drops to the baseline.
Specimen
Capital R and lowercase r in traditional school cursive.
Copy and paste cursive R
Paste-ready script letters for a bio, caption, or text: ℛ 𝓇 𝓡 𝓻. More looks in the cursive generator.
Copy box
Script
ℛ𝓇
Bold script
𝓡𝓻
Italic
𝑅𝑟
Bold italic
𝑹𝒓
This is Unicode text, not a handwriting font. It will look different in every app.
Write
How to write R in cursive
Capital R
Watch the pen. Each number appears where its step starts; the steps below match.
Capital R, step by step
- Start on the left, a little above the midline. Flick up and right to the headline.
- Slant a straight stem down to the baseline.
- Go back up the stem most of the way to the headline. Swing up and right into a bowl that returns to a small curl at the midline, just right of the stem.
- From the curl, kick a leg down and right to the baseline and curve up into the next letter.
The whole capital R in one read
Capital R starts on the left, a little above the midline. Flick a short stroke up and right to the headline, then slant a straight stem down to the baseline. Go back up the stem most of the way to the headline and swing up and right into a rounded bowl. Instead of closing on the stem, bring the bowl back to a small curl that sits at the midline, just right of the stem. From that curl, kick a leg down and to the right to the baseline, then curve it up. The leg is the connector: capital R joins the next letter, climbing straight into it.
Lowercase r
Watch the pen. Each number appears where its step starts; the steps below match.
Lowercase r, step by step
- Start on the baseline. Undercurve up past the midline to a small rounded peak.
- Step right with a short shoulder that dips slightly.
- Slant straight down to the baseline, turn, and curve up to exit.
The whole lowercase r in one read
Lowercase r starts on the baseline. Make a long undercurve up and to the right until it passes the midline and ends in a small rounded peak. From the peak, step right with a short shoulder that dips slightly as it goes. At the end of the shoulder, slant straight down to the baseline. Turn sharply and curve up to the right to exit. The peak is the only part of r above the midline, and it is small. The downstroke sits to the right of the peak, so the letter looks like a tick with a shelf on top.
Zaner-Bloser vs D’Nealian
Join
Joining r to other letters
r into n
The r exit climbs all the way back to the midline, and the n slides straight down on top of that climb before making its round hump. The result is a thick doubled line between the two letters. Watch the spacing: if the r shoulder is short and the n comes in too close, rn looks exactly like m. Leave a clear shoulder on the r so the reader sees the peak.
r into a
From the bottom of the r downstroke, the exit curves up and runs into the left side of the a oval. Ride up to the top of the oval at the midline, circle counterclockwise back down, close the oval at the midline on the right, and pull the a stem down to the baseline. The r and the a touch at the oval, so there is no long connector line between them.
r into e
The r exit makes a low, gentle rise and enters the e loop from below, about a third of the way up. The loop turns left under the midline, comes down the back, and finishes with an upswing. Keep this connector low. If you climb to the midline first, as you would before n, the e loop gets squeezed tall and narrow instead of sitting low and round.
Watch for
Common cursive r mistakes
Letting rn read as m
This is the classic r problem. The r shoulder and the n humps are all about midline height, so if the shoulder is flat or missing, the r blends into the n and the word turns into m. Make the r peak rise a little above the midline, give the shoulder its own short step to the right, and keep a small gap before the n starts its hump.
Rounding the shoulder into n
If the top of your r becomes a smooth arch, the letter reads as n with a short first leg. The r peak is a small bump at the end of the undercurve, followed by a short, almost flat step to the right, then a straight drop. It never loops over in a round hump. Keep the downstroke close to the peak, not a full letter width away.
Closing the R bowl into a P
Capital R and capital P share the same flick, stem, and top bowl. In R, the bowl does not land on the stem. It ends in a small curl at the midline, just right of the stem, and the leg starts from that curl. If you close the bowl onto the stem and then add a leg, the letter looks like a P with a stick attached. Let the curl float free.
Free cursive R 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 R questions
How do you write a capital R in cursive?
Capital R starts on the left, a little above the midline. Flick a short stroke up and right to the headline, then slant a straight stem down to the baseline. Go back up the stem most of the way to the headline and swing up and right into a rounded bowl.
How do you write a lowercase r in cursive?
Lowercase r starts on the baseline. Make a long undercurve up and to the right until it passes the midline and ends in a small rounded peak. From the peak, step right with a short shoulder that dips slightly as it goes.
Does cursive capital R connect to the next letter?
Yes. In traditional cursive the capital R carries its last stroke into the next lowercase letter, so a word like "River" is written without lifting after the capital.
What is the most common mistake with cursive r?
Letting rn read as m. This is the classic r problem. The r shoulder and the n humps are all about midline height, so if the shoulder is flat or missing, the r blends into the n and the word turns into m.
Can I copy and paste a cursive R?
Yes. The copy box on this page gives you Unicode script letters (Rr) 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 R worksheet on this page.
Is cursive r the same in Zaner-Bloser and D’Nealian?
Uppercase R: Zaner-Bloser enters from the midline. D'Nealian starts at the headline.