How do you write a lowercase y

A straight tail or a looped tail on y, where the descender comes from, and what it cannot predict.

• Straight tail: the descender leaves the line and does not come back.
• Looped tail: the descender returns and closes a loop below the line.

Where this comes from

Print models often end y with a straight descender, close to the printed letter. Joined scripts such as cursive and italic close a loop so the pen can leave toward the next letter. The loop is a path, the same job as the loop on g.

A person taught a looped y will loop it even in a note that is otherwise printed. A person taught the straight tail keeps it unless they are copying a joined line.

What this does not show

A looped y does not show emotion or imagination, and a straight y does not show bluntness. Both are finishes taught to children.

Speed opens loops. A closed loop at a desk can become a straight tail on a postcard. That is the pen moving faster, not a change of personality.

Try this shape in the test

Questions

Is a looped y the cursive y?

It is the usual cursive and italic finish. The pen drops below the line and comes back up so it can join the next letter.

Is a straight y wrong?

No. Print models and many adult hands leave the tail straight. The letter is still a y if the fork and the descender are there.

Does the y loop mean the writer is expressive?

No. The loop is a taught motor path. Expressiveness is not visible in one descender.

How is the y loop different from the g loop?

Same kind of finish, different letter. The test asks for y on its own. A looped g does not decide the y.