Cursive A

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The capital A reaches the cap height and the small a stops at the x-height, so the small letter rises about half as far above the baseline: 0.51 of the capital's rise. Neither letter drops below the baseline. The small a is narrower as well, 0.55 as wide as the capital.

Capital A, a closed oval

The capital A is a big slanted oval with a straight slanted line down its right side. The oval and the line both reach the cap height at the top.

The oval is closed all the way around, so the capital holds one enclosed space. Its right side rests against the line from just below the top down to a small notch. That notch sits about a third of the way up from the baseline.

At the bottom right, the line curves along the baseline and finishes in a short tail that turns up. The tail stops far below the x-height. Nothing leads into the capital from the left. Its point furthest left is the side of the oval, between the baseline and the x-height.

Small a, a teardrop inside

The small a has two parts, a closed round part on the left and a slanted line on the right. They are pressed together along most of the line, and both top out at the x-height.

The white space inside the round part is one slanted teardrop. It is widest at the lower left and gets narrower toward the upper right. Near the bottom, a small pointed notch divides the line from the underside of the round part.

At the baseline the line bends into a short tail that points up and to the right. The tail stops much closer to the baseline than to the x-height. Its tip and the top of the line reach almost equally far to the right.

An oval, a line and a tail, twice

In shape the two letters are alike. The capital A and the small a each have a closed oval, a slanted line on its right and a tail that turns up at the bottom right.

The a in active, custard and umbrella

Below, the small a stands in ten words. It starts active, sits between t and r in custard, and ends umbrella after an l.

Small a beside d, u, q, g and o

Five small letters of this font look like the small a. Here is what each one shares with it and where the two differ.

The small d has the same closed round part on the left, joined to a slanted line on the right with a short tail turning up from the baseline. The line tells them apart. On the small d it goes on up to the cap height. On the small a it stops at the x-height.

The small u is as tall as the x-height too, with a rounded bottom on the left, a slanted line on the right and a short upturned tail. But the small u is open at the top. The small a is closed across the top, which gives it an enclosed space.

From the x-height down to the baseline, the small q is drawn almost the same as the small a: a closed round part with a slanted line on its right side. Below that, the small q carries the line under the baseline into a narrow loop. The small a ends on the baseline with its short tail.

The small g shares the closed round part and the slanted line to its right, and its top sits at the x-height like the top of the small a. Under the baseline the small g swings left into a wide loop. The small a has no such loop.

The small o is built on the same kind of slanted closed oval between the baseline and the x-height, with one enclosed space inside. On the small a, a slanted line and a short tail are attached to the right of the oval. The small o is the oval with nothing added.

• Small d
• Small u
• Small q
• Small g
• Small o