Cursive S, uppercase and lowercase
Stroke stepsS in wordsPrintable practice sheet
Red line: baseline. Dashed line: midline, the top of short letters. Top blue line: the height of capitals. Both letters here are drawn from the outlines of one school-cursive typeface, so every size on this page is measured, not sketched.
Lowercase cursive s
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1Start on the baseline and curve up to the top of the letter. [1]
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2Turn at the top in a point, not a loop, then come down in a curve that swings out and back until it touches the baseline. [2][3]
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3Rise a little and close the letter against the first stroke. [2][3]
What the handwriting manuals say. The steps above use only these points; the letter drawn is the modern typeface, so small details of the old models differ.
“The first curve, like that in the r, commences at the ruled line, and rises on an angle of 39° to the hight of the letter.”
“diverges gradually from the first right curve, for a distance of two-thirds the length of the letter, then turning towards it, and still descending, touches the ruled line, and rises from this point one-fourth of a space, terminating with a dot on the first curve.”
“Small s should be pointed, not looped, at the top, and entirely closed on the base line.”
Uppercase cursive S: what Palmer says
The old manuals say little about where a capital S begins or which way the pen turns, so we show the capital as a picture and give no numbered steps. What Palmer does say, in his Lesson 54 drills for capital S, is quoted word for word below: the first stroke is a curve, the loop at the top is the thing to study, you count 1, 2 for each letter, and the finishing stroke can be joined to the letter that follows. Spencer's 1866 key adds a line on the shape of the capital.
“Study the curve of the first stroke; study the loop at the top, and give especial attention to the fact that the loop (upper part of S) is one-half the entire length of the letter. With an easy, light movement make from forty-five to fifty letters to the minute. Count 1, 2, for each letter.”
“Its practical feature is the direction taken by the finishing stroke, which may be joined to any letter following. Count 1, 2, swing; or 1, 2, 3, for each letter.”
“The characteristic feature of the Italian capital S, is a full compound curve, which is retained in the script form.”
Palmer's "one-half the entire length of the letter" is a statement about his model, not about the S drawn above. The typeface here, Playwrite US Trad, is a modern school-cursive face, and the loop of its S need not match Palmer's proportion. We do not claim it does, so when you practice, follow Palmer's words rather than the proportions of the drawn letter.
S in joined words
In cursive the s joins the letters on both sides of it. These words are set in the same typeface, which joins letters by itself.
- Sam
- sun
- seas
- Sister
- is
- US
How tall each letter sits on the lines
| Letter | Top of the letter | Bottom | Width |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase s | 116% of the midline height (579 vs 500 units): the tip rises a little above the dashed line | on the baseline (-19 units) | 619 units including the lead-in stroke |
| Uppercase S | 109% of capital height (1087 vs 1000 units): the top loop passes the top line | on the baseline (-19 units) | 1008 units including the lead-in stroke |
Units are the typeface's own grid, 1,000 to the em. Read from the font file of Playwrite US Trad; see how these are made.
Practice sheet
One page, fits US Letter and A4. Two rows for each letter: the first starts with one dark model to copy, then gray letters to trace, and the second is all tracing. Then two word rows and two empty rows for writing alone.