Handwriting and Cursive

In Russia, everyone writes in cursive (пропись, propis'). This is not optional — Russian children learn cursive from their very first day of school, and virtually all handwritten Russian text uses connected, flowing letters. If you cannot read Russian cursive, you will struggle to read handwritten notes, forms, and even some signs.

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Why Cursive Matters

Print (Печатные)	Cursive (Прописные)	Status
Used in books, screens, signage	Used in ALL handwriting	Cursive is the default for writing by hand
Block letters	Connected, flowing letters	Russians rarely print by hand
Easier for beginners	Essential for real-world use	You must learn both

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Letters That Change Dramatically in Cursive

Many Cyrillic letters look very different in their cursive forms compared to their printed forms. Here are the most surprising transformations:

Print	Cursive Looks Like	English Cursive Similarity
Б б	6 with a loop	—
Г г	A hook (like a 2)	—
Д д	A loopy "g"	English cursive "g"
И и	English cursive "u"	u
Й й	English cursive "u" + breve	u with mark
Л л	Like a cursive "n" or hook	—
М м	Like a wider cursive "m"	Similar to English "m" but taller
П п	Like a cursive "n"	English cursive "n"
Т т	Like a cursive "m"	English cursive "m"
Ш ш	Like a cursive "w" (but read as "sh")	English cursive "w"

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The Most Confusing Cursive Letters

И и in Cursive = English "u"

The cursive form of И (which sounds like "ee") looks exactly like a Latin cursive "u." This is one of the biggest sources of confusion.

Т т in Cursive = English "m"

Cursive Т has three humps that look identical to English cursive "m." Meanwhile, cursive М has wider humps. Distinguishing Т from М and Ш in cursive takes practice.

П п in Cursive = English "n"

Cursive П has two humps — it looks just like English cursive "n." This means:

Confusion chain in cursive:
п (P sound) → looks like English cursive "n"
н (N sound) → looks like its own distinct form
т (T sound) → looks like English cursive "m"
м (M sound) → looks like a wider "m"
ш (SH sound) → looks like English cursive "w"

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The Hump-Count System

One helpful approach for reading cursive is to count the humps:

Humps	Letter	Sound
2 humps	п	"p"
2 humps (with descender)	и	"ee"
3 humps	т	"t"
3 humps (wider)	м	"m"
3-4 humps (wide)	ш	"sh"
4 humps (wide + tail)	щ	"shch"

Tip: Russian writers sometimes add a small horizontal line under Ш/Щ or above Т to help distinguish these letters in cursive. This is standard practice, not laziness!