Most cursive letters are built from four strokes. Learn these, and the letters come easily.
| Stroke | Looks like | Begins the letters |
|---|---|---|
| Undercurve | a swing up, like a smile | i t u w e l |
| Overcurve | a hill | n m v x y z |
| Downcurve | the start of c, curving back and down | a c d g o q |
| Slant line | a straight line, leaning | inside almost every letter |
Inside a word, the stroke that joins two letters is often one of these curves too: an undercurve into i, an overcurve into n.
Key idea
Undercurve, overcurve, downcurve and slant line: four strokes that build the cursive alphabet.
Why it works
Curves join smoothly; corners don’t. When the curves really curve, one letter flows into the next.
Worked example: Find the strokes in i
Which strokes make cursive i?
- An undercurve swings up from the baseline to the middle line.
- A slant line comes down to the baseline.
- Another undercurve swings up and out. Then the dot.
Answer: Undercurve, slant line, undercurve, dot.
Common mistake
Making the curves into straight lines with sharp corners. Then letters are hard to join. Let the pencil swing.
For the grown-up. Palmer began with large ovals and push-pull drills to loosen the arm; the site’s Palmer drill guides show them. A few minutes of curves before letters is a good warm-up.