Cursive L

Cursive l is the plainest tall letter there is: one loop up to the top line and one stroke back down. Nothing is added to it and nothing crosses it.

Cursive capital L and lowercase l 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 l

  1. Swing up from the baseline to the top line, leaning slightly right.
  2. Loop back over your own stroke at the top.
  3. Come straight down to the baseline.
  4. Exit to the right into the next letter.

The capital L

Capital L is a loop at the top line, a stem down to the baseline, and a second loop lying along the baseline that carries the exit stroke away to the right.

Where it goes wrong

The loop has to stay open. Squeeze it shut and l reads as a t with no crossbar; open it too wide and a double l reads as a b.

Print the l practice sheet

Printable cursive l practice sheet — first page

What is on the sheet

  1. Lowercase l
    lll
    Write three letters l, exactly as in the model. Trace the pale row first, then write the empty rows on your own.
  2. Capital L
    L L L
    Write the capital L three times, with a space between them. Capitals fill the full height from the baseline to the top line.
  3. Words: little and yellow
    little yellow
    Write both words as in the model, with a clear space between them. Keep every l the same size and the same slant.
  4. Word: ball
    ball
    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

Check your l 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

Loop Family: e and l

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

Loop Family: e and l The full cursive course