Capital L in Cursive: How to Write It
Capital L is a single looping stroke: up near the headline, over, and down into a base on the baseline. A printed L of two straight lines will not match the rest of a cursive page.
L
The letterforms on this page are rendered in Cedarville Cursive, an open-source font — school styles like Zaner-Bloser or D'Nealian differ in details. Treat the steps as the source of truth for stroke order; let the sample show you one possible shape.
Write it step by step
- 1For capital L, start on the baseline and rise to the headline, looping left at the top the way lowercase l does, but broader.
- 2Bring the stroke down the right side of that loop, all the way to the baseline.
- 3Sweep the base out to the right along the line and lift. The base is part of the same stroke, not a second pen line.
Common mistakes to avoid
- A small loop that never reaches the headline, so the capital looks like lowercase l.
- A base drawn as a separate horizontal bar, disconnected from the stem.
- A loop so wide it occupies the space of the next letter.
Practice words
Little · Look · Play · Liam · Lucy
Turn this letter into a practice sheet
Opens a cursive tracing sheet with this lesson's words filled in. Download the PDF and print it.
See this letter on the alphabet chart and download the sheet →
Frequently asked questions
Does cursive capital L connect?
The base can lead into the next letter more naturally than most capitals. Keep the lead short. A long tail makes the following letter start too low.
How is capital L different from lowercase l?
Mostly size and the base. Lowercase l exits with a small joining stroke. Capital L spends more ink on a clear foot so it reads as a capital at the start of a name.
Can L be written without a loop?
Some italic hands use a plain stem. The looped form is the one that matches the other capitals on this site. Stay with the loop so L, B, and H share a slant.
Voice to Handwriting · voicetohandwriting.online