American Sign Language (ASL) Series 3 Lesson 7: Negative Phrases
By Elaine Ernst Schneider
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| Signs | Description of Sign Action |
| don’t know | 1: Touch forehead with fingers of right hand, palm facing the face. 2: Turn hand out and away towards the right shoulder. |
| don’t like | 1: Touch chest with longest fingers of right hand 2: Swing hand out and away from chest. |
| don’t want | 1: want – Extend both hands forward, palms up. Move both open curved hands toward the chest several times, as if drawing in the desired object. 2: not – Both hands are held in front of the body, palms down, fingertips toward the front. Then hands are moved slightly downward and to the side, as if wiping a slate clean. |
| him | Point in the direction of where someone is located. If no one is there, point to an “imaginary” person. |
| I | Point to self, mid-chest. |
| know | Touch forehead with fingers of right hand, palm facing the face. |
| like | Place the right thumb and index finger against the chest as if picking lint from the shirt. Then pull the right hand away from the body, bringing the thumb and index finger together. Note: Some signers use the thumb and middle finger for this sign. |
| not | Using the right “a” hand, brush thumb under chin and move hand forward. |
| nothing | Hold “o” hands in front of chest, palms facing, and fingers touching. Separate hands, moving both to the outsides of the body to indicate that the air in front of you is left blank, i.e. void of anything. |
| she | Point in the direction of where someone is located. If no one is there, point to an “imaginary” person. |
| tells | Use a right “d” hand to visually move the spoken word from the mouth into the air. |
| want | Extend both hands forward, palms up. Move both open curved hands toward the chest several times, as if drawing in the desired object. |
Continue on to Lesson 8: Everyday Phrases
Series 3 of our ASL lessons is available for sale in a single, print-friendly file in our Shop@LT.
Submitted by: Elaine Ernst Schneider entered the classroom as a special education teacher in the 1970’s. Since then, she has taught mainstream English Grammar, Literature, music K-12, deaf education, psychology, Algebra, creative writing, social studies, law, and science in both public and private schools. Presently, Elaine is a curriculum author for multiple educational publishers and is the managing editor of Lesson Tutor, a lesson plan website found at https://www.lessontutor.com. Her most recent books, 52 Children’s Moments (Synergy Publications) and Taking Hearing Impairment to School (JayJo Books and the Guidance Channel) can be found at Amazon.com. She is currently working on a project with Pearson Prentice Hall as an author of an on-line teacher’s professional development course for the Council for Exceptional Children.
