Cursive D (Capital & Lowercase)

How to Write a Capital D in Cursive

1. Start just under the top line. Place your pencil a little below the top line, toward the left side of where the letter will sit.
2. Pull the stem down. Draw a straight, slanted stroke down to the baseline. Keep it parallel with the slant of your other letters.
3. Loop at the foot. At the bottom, curl to the left and make a small, flat loop that rests on the baseline.
4. Swing into the belly. Carry the stroke to the right along the baseline, then curve up the right side in a big, round arc that reaches the top line.
5. Curl over the top. Arch over to the left, past the top of the stem, and finish with a small curl that dips just below the top line.

How to Write a Lowercase d in Cursive

1. Start just below the midline. Begin at the top right of a small oval. In a word, the previous letter's stroke rises and curves over to this point.
2. Draw the oval. Curve left and down, counterclockwise, round off on the baseline and come back up to close the oval at the top.
3. Climb to the top line. Without lifting, keep going straight up along the right side of the oval until you reach the top line.
4. Retrace down. Come back down over the same line to the baseline. The stem of this d has no loop.
5. Exit to the right. Finish with a small upturned tail that leads into the next letter.

Common Mistakes With Cursive D

D is not a hard letter, but each form has one detail that's easy to miss.

• Looping the lowercase stem. The stem goes up and back down on the same line. Adding a loop at the top makes the d look like an a joined to an l.
• A short stem. If the stem stops at the midline, you've written an a. It has to reach the top line.
• A gap between oval and stem. Leave space there and the d reads as a c followed by an l, which is how "dog" turns into "clog".
• Forgetting the foot loop. The small loop on the baseline is what lets the capital D turn from the stem into the belly without a lift.
• Joining the capital D. The capital ends with a curl up at the top, far from the baseline, so it doesn't join. Lift and start the next letter on its own.
• A belly that's too small. The curve should be the widest part of the capital, bulging well out to the right of the stem.

Joining D in Cursive Writing

The capital D doesn't join in this style. Its last stroke ends at the top left, so lift your pencil after the curl and start the next letter with its own lead-in, as in Dad or Daisy.

The lowercase d joins on both sides. Because it starts at the top of the oval, the connecting stroke rises past the oval and hooks over before dropping into it. In ladder you'll do this twice in a row: the first d's tail curves up and over into the oval of the second.

After o, w, v and b, the join leaves at the midline and runs straight across to the top of the d's oval, as in body. Keep that bridge level and short so the oval doesn't get squashed.

Copy and Paste Cursive D Symbols

These are Unicode letters with a script design, not handwriting. Paste them into names, bios and posts; just remember each symbol stands alone and won't connect to its neighbors like real cursive.

• 𝒟𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂Copy
• 𝒟𝒶𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓃ℊCopy
• 𝒟𝒶𝒾𝓈𝓎Copy
• 𝒟ℯ𝒶𝓇 𝒟𝒾𝒶𝓇𝓎Copy

Words That Start With D

Practice the cursive letter d in real words. Begin with short ones, then try words where d appears twice or sits in the middle.

• Short words: dog, dad, day, dot, dig, den, dry, duck
• Longer words: dinner, doctor, dragon, dance, desert, dollar, dream, donkey
• Double d and middle d: ladder, middle, puddle, teddy, body, candy, radio, garden
• Names and places: Daisy, David, Diana, Daniel, Dallas, Denver, Dublin, Delhi

If your d keeps turning into an a, say "oval, up to the top, back down" as you write it. Saying the steps out loud helps you remember the tall stem.