Cursive D

Cursive d has a straight back: the oval first, then a stem up to the top line and down the same line again. Unlike b, h, k and l, it has no loop at all.

Cursive capital D and lowercase d written on a four-line school ruling

Written in the traditional US school model — the looped, joined cursive of the Zaner-Bloser and D'Nealian copybooks, which is the model every sheet on this site is set in.

How to write cursive d

  1. Start just below the midline and travel counter-clockwise into a closed oval.
  2. Close the oval, then carry the stroke straight up to the top line.
  3. Come back down that same stroke to the baseline.
  4. Exit to the right into the next letter.

The capital D

Capital D is built the other way round: a stem from the top line down into a small loop on the baseline, then one wide bowl up and over to close on it.

Where it goes wrong

Loop the stem and d becomes a narrow b. The looped tall letters are b, h, k and l — d is not one of them.

Print the d practice sheet

Printable cursive d practice sheet — first page
Printable d worksheet, US Letter Printable d worksheet, A4

What is on the sheet

  1. Lowercase d
    ddd
    Write three letters d, exactly as in the model. Trace the pale row first, then write the empty rows on your own.
  2. Capital D
    D D D
    Write the capital D three times, with a space between them. Capitals fill the full height from the baseline to the top line.
  3. Words: dad and middle
    dad middle
    Write both words as in the model, with a clear space between them. Keep every d the same size and the same slant.
  4. Word: sudden
    sudden
    Write the word in one movement where you can, then go back for any dots and crossbars.

Print at 100% on US Letter — not “fit to page”. The ruling is classroom size, and scaling the page down makes every letter the wrong size; the 10 cm scale at the foot of the sheet is there to check against. Every block gives you a model row in full ink, a pale row to trace over and empty ruled rows of your own.

All twenty-six on one page: the cursive alphabet chart.

The other letters

Cursive F Cursive S Cursive G Cursive J Cursive Z Cursive T Cursive B Cursive R Cursive K Cursive Q Cursive I Cursive L Cursive A Cursive H Cursive E Cursive N Cursive M Cursive P Cursive V Cursive C Cursive X Cursive W Cursive Y Cursive O Cursive U

Check your d against the model

Write the sheet by hand, photograph it, and our AI scores letter formation, spacing and slant against the same model you traced.

Check your handwriting free

Oval Family: a, c and d

In the course, d is taught with the letters that share its movement — that is where to go once the shape itself is no longer the problem.

Oval Family: g, o and q The full cursive course