Russian Cursive А а (A): How to Write It
By Daily Cyrillic · Updated
Cursive а is a small oval closed by a short downstroke on its right, exactly like a handwritten Latin a. It sits between the two middle lines and never rises above them. An open "a" as in "father"; unstressed it weakens toward a short "uh".
Reading time: about 2 min.
- Sound
- /a/, written a
- Letter name
- а
- Often confused with
- о, д
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Sound
An open "a" as in "father"; unstressed it weakens toward a short "uh".
How to write cursive а, step by step
- Start just below the top of the x-height, on the right side of the future oval.
- Draw the oval counterclockwise: up and left, down the left side, round the bottom and back up.
- Without lifting the pen, close the oval at the top right.
- Pull a straight slanted stroke down to the baseline and finish with a small hook to the right.
The capital А
Capital А is a tall pointed arch, like a handwritten Latin A: a stroke up from the baseline, a stroke down on the right, and a small looped crossbar.
How it connects to other letters
The closing hook at the bottom right flows straight into the next letter. Coming in from a previous letter, the connector runs up to the top right of the oval before you draw it.
Letters it is confused with
а / о: о is a closed oval with no downstroke; а always has the straight tail on the right.
а / д: д starts with the same oval, but its stroke drops below the baseline into a loop; а stops on the line.
Example words in cursive
Read the cursive word first, then check the print form and meaning.
| Cursive | Transliteration | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| сад | сад | sad | garden |
| мама | мама | máma | mom |
| вода | вода | vodá | water |
| карта | карта | kárta | map |
Common mistakes
- Leaving a gap between the oval and the downstroke, so the letter reads as о plus a stray line.
- Drawing the oval clockwise, which makes the join to the next letter awkward.
Turn this guide into words you can use
Build a free Russian set for this topic, with examples and ElevenLabs AI audio.