Cursive K

Print practice sheet

Both the capital K and the small k stand on the baseline and touch the cap height, so one is as tall as the other. Sideways the small k takes up less room, 0.77 of the capital's width.

Capital K, two attached curves

The capital K is a slanted line with two curves attached on its right, one over the other. The line stands on the baseline in a blunt foot and tops out at the cap height.

The top of the slanted line carries a wavy bar. The bar stretches away to the left and stops in a blunt tip, well above the x-height. No point of the capital K lies further left than that tip.

The upper curve has a blunt tip of its own at the far right, just under the cap height. It touches the cap height beside that tip and swoops down to the left.

One short level piece, lying at the x-height, joins both curves to the slanted line. From that piece the lower curve drops to the baseline and turns up at the right into a tail, which stops well short of the x-height. Nowhere does the capital close off a space.

Small k, a pair of loops

The small k has two closed loops, a tall one and a smaller one at its right.

A long line leaves the baseline at the far left and leans over to the right as it rises. The tall loop is the upper part of the letter. It is rounded where it touches the cap height and pointed at its bottom end, just above the x-height. The straight left side of this loop comes down over that long line a little under the x-height and stands on the baseline in a blunt foot.

The smaller loop bulges out to the right of the straight line. Its top is at the x-height, and its lower corner is about halfway down to the baseline. From that corner a short curve dips to the baseline and flicks up at the right into a tail.

Even so, the tall loop reaches further right than either the small loop or the tail.

The upper right part, open or closed

The capital K encloses no space, while the small k has its two closed loops, a tall one above a smaller one. The upper right part shows the difference best: on the capital it is an open curve, and on the small letter it is a closed loop. The lower right part is the same on both, a curve that lands on the baseline and finishes in an upturned tail.

Bucket and tackle, the k after c

The small k follows a c in two of the ten words here, bucket and tackle, where an e and an l come after it.

Small k beside the small h

The small h is shown below as the look-alike of the small k.

• Small hDescribed on the page for H