Cursive A Stroke Order
How to Write a Capital A in Cursive
- Start near cap height and travel anticlockwise into a large bowl.
- Round the baseline and come back up the right side.
- Close the bowl, then carry a stem from cap height straight down.
- Land on the baseline and exit with a small flick right.
The stem is what makes it an A rather than an O — it runs the full cap height on the bowl's right.
How to Write a Lowercase a in Cursive
- Start at x-height and travel anticlockwise down to the baseline.
- Round the bottom and come back up to x-height.
- Close the bowl, then drop a short stem to the baseline.
- Exit right along the baseline.
The a is the base shape for a whole family: d, g and q are all this bowl with a different stem or tail attached.
Cursive a vs Cursive o
Both are anticlockwise bowls at x-height, drawn identically. The a adds a short stem on the right and exits at the baseline; the o has no stem and exits from the top. Clip the a's stem while writing quickly and you have written an o, which is how road and rood or ran and ron blur into each other.
Joining Cursive a: Close the Bowl Before You Leave
The a exits at the baseline, so it joins forward easily. Getting into it is the harder half: the bowl starts at the top and runs anticlockwise, so after a high-exiting letter — b, o, v or w — you drop into it from above instead of rising from the baseline. That is why was, oat and bad feel different from cat.
Cursive A Mistakes: No Stem, Open Bowl, Stem Too Tall
- No stem. A bowl without a stem is an o.
- A stem that reaches the ascender. That makes it a d.
- An open bowl. An unclosed a reads as a u or a ci pair.
- Clockwise construction. Every cursive bowl is drawn anticlockwise.
Names Starting With A in Cursive
- Amelia — 𝒜𝓂ℯ𝓁𝒾𝒶
- Aaron — 𝒜𝒶𝓇ℴ𝓃
- Ava — 𝒜𝓋𝒶
- Atlas — 𝒜𝓉𝓁𝒶𝓈
Countries and Languages Starting With A in Cursive
- America — 𝒜𝓂ℯ𝓇𝒾𝒸𝒶 · America in cursive: Capital A, July 4 Phrases
- Australia — 𝒜𝓊𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓁𝒾𝒶 · Australia in cursive: Tall l, State Cursive Styles
Cursive Words Beginning With a
- apple — 𝒶𝓅𝓅𝓁ℯ
- amber — 𝒶𝓂𝒷ℯ𝓇
- arrow — 𝒶𝓇𝓇ℴ𝓌
Want a whole word or sentence? Use the cursive letters generator, or the cursive name generator for names. To practise these strokes on paper, print a cursive practice sheet.
Cursive A FAQ
What is the cursive A?
The cursive A is the joined-up form of the letter A. The capital is a large anticlockwise bowl with a full-height stem on its right; the lowercase is the same bowl inside the x-height with a short stem, exiting on the baseline. Online, “cursive A” also means the copy-and-paste characters (𝒜 and 𝒶) above.
How do you write a in cursive?
In short: start at x-height, run anticlockwise down and round the baseline, come back up and close the bowl, then drop a short stem and exit at the baseline. Steps and the diagram are above.
Why does my cursive a look like an o?
The stem is missing or too short. The bowls of a and o are identical — the stem on the right, and the baseline exit that comes with it, is the only difference.
What is the difference between a cursive a and a cursive d?
Stem height only. The a stem stops at x-height; the d stem carries on to the ascender line. Both bowls are drawn the same way.
Can I copy and paste a cursive A?
Yes. Every A above is a Unicode character rather than an image, so a click copies real text into any field that accepts typing, with no font to install.