Russian Cursive В в (Ve): How to Write It
By Daily Cyrillic · Updated
Cursive в is a tall loop that comes down to the baseline and finishes with a small bowl on the right, a bit like a handwritten Latin b with an extra curl. It is written as tall as б. A "v" as in "van"; at the end of a word it sounds like "f".
Reading time: about 2 min.
- Sound
- /v/, written v
- Letter name
- вэ
- Often confused with
- б, Latin b
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Sound
A "v" as in "van"; at the end of a word it sounds like "f".
How to write cursive в, step by step
- Begin at the baseline and swing up to the top line in a narrow loop.
- Come straight down the slanted stem back to the baseline.
- Turn up on the right and draw a small rounded bowl at x-height that closes against the stem.
- Finish with a short horizontal tick to the right at the middle of the bowl.
The capital В
Capital В looks like a handwritten Latin B: a stem, then two bowls stacked on the right, the upper one smaller. Many writers start it with a small hook at the top left.
How it connects to other letters
The finishing tick at mid-height is the connector, so the next letter starts from the middle of the line rather than from the baseline.
Letters it is confused with
в / б: Both letters are tall. в has its loop on the left going up first, б has its bowl first and the stem curving right at the top.
в / Latin b: Visually в is close to an English b, but it is pronounced v. Read the shape as v, not b.
Example words in cursive
Read the cursive word first, then check the print form and meaning.
| Cursive | Transliteration | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| вечер | вечер | vécher | evening |
| вкус | вкус | vkus | taste |
| слово | слово | slóvo | word |
| вино | вино | vinó | wine |
Common mistakes
- Writing в at x-height, which makes it look like a small е or з.
- Forgetting the mid-height exit and dropping to the baseline, which breaks the rhythm of the word.
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Build a free Russian set for this topic, with examples and ElevenLabs AI audio.