ASL 1 Unit 5 Talking About ActivitiesMRS. SHELDON

CREEKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL

Wh-Word Question-When

In English, a “when” question can be used to ask for either “what day” or “what time.”

In ASL, a “when” question can only be used to ask “what day”

To ask a “when” question:

1. Name the activity Raise brows

2. Ask “when” Lower brows

Lean head forward

Hold the last sign (the “when” question sign)

Ex: YOU PRACTICE EXERCISE WHEN

Ask what time (when)

If you want to know what time your friend planned to do an activity, make sure to sign TIME and use non-manual marker for wh-question (eyebrows down).

In ASL, we do NOT sign WHEN if you’re asking what time someone is doing something.

Wh-Word Question-What a person Did/Will do

#DO+++ is used to ask a question about what a person did or will do on a particular day. One hand or both hands

To ask a “what one did/will do” question:

1. Name the day

Raise brows

2. ask what person did/will do

Lower brows

Lean head forward

Hold the last sign (#DO+++)

Ex: PAST TUESDAY YOU #DO+++

ESTABLISHING TENSE

Time signs usually occur at the beginning of a sentence to establish tense.

If a time sign is not specified, then assume events are present tense.

Verbs in ASL are NOT modified specifically for tense in some other languages. Woo Hoo! No conjugated verbs!! Isn’t ASL the best?!

Use an imaginary time line:

Future=forward

Past=move back

Present=Right in front of body

Timeline in ASL

ASL Sentence Structure

American Sign Language does not use suffixes to indicate past or future tense, such as -ed or -ing.  Instead, we use time concepts to indicate the past, present or future tense.

To change a verb to past tense, we would simply tack on the word "past, before, ago." For example:  EAT PAST = ate;  SEE PAST = saw;  Or you can sign:    EAT FINISH=  already ate; SEE FINISH =  already saw

To make it future tense, we add “WILL (FUTURE)."For example:  EAT WILL= will eat; SEE WILL = will see

To indicate the present tense, simply sign the verb.

How to use time concepts within a sentence.

In English, verbs have to agree.  For example, it would be incorrect for me to write:  "Yesterday, I go to the store. " The correct way is to write, "Yesterday, I went to the store.“

In American Sign Language, that's an entirely different matter.  The above example:  "Yesterday I go store" is grammatically correct, because "yesterday" in ASL automatically alters "go" into the past tense.  Yesterday changes everything in that sentence into the past tense.

That being the case, time concepts are almost always placed at the beginning of a sentence.

Past Tense

PAST WEEKEND, I GO SKI. (Last weekend, I went skiing)PAST MONTH, I CL:3-CRASH.  (Last month I was in a car accident)

You can substitute past weekend or past month with:  yesterday, long ago, a while ago, recently, years ago, etc

Or:You can sign the following, tacking finish at the end (which still makes everything past tense).I ATE FINISH.  (I already ate)MY MOM WORK FINISH.  (My mom is done with her work).

Future Tense

SOMEDAY, I MARRY I.  (Someday, I will marry)

TOMORROW, I BIKE WORK.  (Tomorrow, I will bike to work)

SEE LATER.  (I will see you later)

SOON, I VACATION WORK.  (Soon I'll be off work)

Present Tense

SCHOOL I GO.  (I'm going to school)

BOOK I READ.  (I'm reading a book)

MY HOUSE I CLEAN. (I’m cleaning my house)

Compare the following

TODAY, MOVIE I GO.  (Today, I will go to the movies)

FINISH SAW MOVIE TODAY.  (I already saw that movie today)

YESTERDAY, MOVIE I GO.  (I went to the movies yesterday)

VOCABULARY

TODAY THURSDAY #TV WATCH EXERCISE

YESTERDAY FRIDAY GO-TO PRACTICE

TOMORROW SATURDAY LEAVE-FOR CHURCH

IN-PAST SUNDAY WORK MEETING

FUTURE STAY HOME SCHOOL HOSPITAL

MONDAY HOUSE CLEAN++ LIBRARY DOCTOR

TUESDAY COOK STUDY #BANK

WEDNESDAY PLAY GAME GYM RESTAURANT

Agreement Verbs

Agreement verbs must AGREE with the subject and object of a sentence.

Orienting and moving the hand to reflect the action between subject and object in these contexts:

1. me to another person

2. another person to another

3. one person to another

4. me from another person

5. another person from me

6. one person from another

Agreement Verbs AKA Directional Verbs

Person-GIVE-TO-person Person-TAKE-FROM-person Person-SHOW-TO-person Person-THROW-TO-person Person-ASK-TO-person Person-TELL-TO-person