A cursive capital O is a tall oval that starts at the top line, curves down to the left and around, comes back up to close at the top, and finishes with a small loop inside and a short curve to the right. A lowercase cursive o is a small oval drawn the same way at midline height, closed at the top and finished with a checkstroke, a short sideways stroke to the right that stays at the midline.
How to write O in cursive, step by step
The steps follow a Zaner-Bloser-style school cursive. Both forms of O are drawn counterclockwise, the same direction as the ovals in a, d, g and q.
Capital O
Start at the top line, slightly right of where the oval's center will be.
Make a downcurve to the left, around the bottom at the baseline.
Undercurve back up the right side to the top line, closing the oval where you started.
Make a small loop just inside the top of the oval.
Finish with a short curve to the right. In school cursive the capital O does not join the next letter.
The small loop at the top is what makes the O look written rather than drawn. Keep it small and inside the oval. A loop that hangs outside makes the O look like a cursive capital C that has been closed by accident.
Lowercase o
If the o follows another letter, arrive at the midline with an overcurve. Otherwise start just below the midline.
Make a downcurve to the left, around the bottom at the baseline.
Undercurve back up to the midline and close the oval at the top.
Finish with a checkstroke: a short, nearly flat stroke to the right at the midline.
The o is one of four lowercase letters that end with a checkstroke at the midline instead of an undercurve at the baseline. The others are b, v and w. All four change how the next letter starts.
12 ways to write O
O shows the shape of a style's ovals more plainly than any other letter, because the O is nothing but an oval. Copperplate and Spencerian lean it at a steep slant and put the shade on the left side, where the pen moves down. Italic compresses it into a narrow, pointed oval. Gothic builds it from two curved strokes that meet at sharp corners top and bottom, and brush styles often leave a small gap at the top on purpose.
If you want to compare styles quickly, compare their O's. The slant, the width and where the thick part falls tell you most of what you need to know about the other round letters in the same style.
Common mistakes with O
the lowercase o's checkstroke drops to the baseline, so the o reads as an a
the oval is not closed at the top, so the o reads as a u or a c
the oval is drawn clockwise, which puts the exit on the wrong side and breaks the join
the small loop of the capital O hangs outside the oval instead of sitting inside the top
The mistake that most often changes the letter is dropping the checkstroke to the baseline. That turns the o into an a, so "boat" starts to read as "baat".
Joining O to other letters
Because the lowercase o leaves from the midline, the next letter cannot start with its usual entry from the baseline. In "on" the checkstroke runs straight into the n's first hump. In "or" and "os" it has to rise a little to reach the r's shoulder or the s's point. "Ou" asks the checkstroke to dip down into the u's first undercurve. "Ol" is the hardest: the join must climb from the midline all the way to the top line without sagging first.
Hand-lettered exemplar coming soon
On
Hand-lettered exemplar coming soon
Or
Hand-lettered exemplar coming soon
Os
Hand-lettered exemplar coming soon
Ou
Hand-lettered exemplar coming soon
Ol
Practice these pairs slowly. The common habit is to let the checkstroke droop toward the baseline before joining, which looks like an extra letter in the word.
Practice O
The O sheet starts with rows of slanted ovals, then the capital O, the lowercase o with its checkstroke, and the joins to trace. Print it at 100% scale on US Letter or A4.
Two things cause it. Either the oval is not closed at the top, so it reads as a u or as part of an a, or the exit drops to the baseline instead of staying at the midline, which adds what looks like the a's stem. Close the oval first, then make the checkstroke a short flat move to the right at the midline. If your o still looks like an a, the checkstroke is probably too long and curving down.
Does the cursive capital O connect to the next letter?
Not in Zaner-Bloser-style cursive. The O ends with a small loop and a short curve that stops on its own, and the next letter starts with its normal entry stroke. Some older and more flowing hands carry the final curve into the next letter, and many people do this in their own handwriting. Either is readable, but leave the gap if you are following a school model.
How do you keep a cursive o round?
Write rows of ovals on their own before writing the letter, all counterclockwise and all at the same slant. Then turn each oval into an o by adding the checkstroke. If your ovals come out flat on one side, you are probably starting the downcurve too far to the left. Start at the right side of the oval so the curve has room to swing around.
Where does the letter O come from?
O comes from the Phoenician letter ayin, a circle that stood for an eye. Ayin was a consonant in Phoenician; the Greeks used the shape for a vowel and called it omicron. The Romans kept it almost unchanged, which is why the O has looked much the same for nearly three thousand years.
