Russian Handwriting: Printed vs Cursive Letters

Printed Russian and handwritten Russian can look surprisingly different. Russians learn cursive at school and use it daily.

Why it matters

If you only learn from printed text, a handwritten note or a menu board may look unreadable. Learning the main cursive differences helps.

Letters that differ most

Several lowercase letters change shape in cursive:

• т looks like a small m in cursive.
• д can look like a looped g.
• г and и have shapes made of short, connected strokes.
• л and м become rounded and pointed shapes joined to the next letter.

The exact shapes vary between writers, so seeing real samples is important.

Letters that stay similar

Letters such as а, о, с, у and к change little.

Reading tips

1. Read in words, not in letters. Context helps you guess.
2. Look at a sample alphabet in cursive and print it next to the printed version.
3. Copy a few sentences by hand.
4. Expect variation. Everyone's handwriting differs.

Writing tips

• Slant your writing slightly.
• Join the letters in one flowing line.
• Keep the stroke height even.
• Practise short words first, like мама, дом and кот.

Do you need cursive?

For reading handwritten notes, yes, a little. For typing and printed reading, printed forms are enough. For writing, many learners print, and that is accepted, though cursive speeds you up.

Tips

• Start with printing.
• Add cursive gradually.
• Use the dictionary for printed spellings.

Look up any Russian word with English Russian Dictionary →