Open 4 or closed 4
How to tell an open 4 from a closed 4, where each form is taught, and what the shape cannot say about a person.
Open 4: the crossbar and stem leave the left side of the counter open.
Closed 4: the diagonal meets the crossbar and makes a triangle.
Where this comes from
The open 4 is the usual handwritten form in much of the United States. The pen makes a stem, a bar, and a diagonal that does not have to meet.
The closed 4 is common in many European school scripts, and some American teachers still demonstrate it. The triangle is a small closed counter, closer to the printed numeral.
What this does not show
An open or closed 4 does not show whether someone is creative, rigid, or honest. It shows which model they practiced, and sometimes which one they saw on a keyboard or a chalkboard.
One numeral is not a personality. People switch forms in the same paragraph when they slow down or copy a printed digit.
Questions
- What is an open 4 in handwriting?
- An open 4 leaves the counter unclosed. You can see a stem, a crossbar, and a diagonal, and the left side of the shape does not form a triangle.
- What is a closed 4?
- A closed 4 joins the diagonal to the crossbar so the top is a triangle, then continues the stem downward.
- Does an open 4 mean a different personality from a closed 4?
- No. The two forms are taught in different places. The test on this site files the shape you picked. It does not read a trait from it.
- Can the same person write both?
- Yes. A careful copy of a printed 4 is often closed. A fast note is often open. Both can appear on one page.