ASL for Beginners: 20 Basic Signs, From ‘Hello’ to ‘I Love You’

• American Sign Language is a full language with its own grammar, not English spelled out on the hands. Your face is part of it.
• Most first signs are built from three things: a handshape, a location on or near the body, and a movement. Below are 20 to start with.
• Marlee Matlin won an Oscar at 21 for Children of a Lesser God. Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man to win one, for CODA, in 2022.

Some of the most-watched family videos online right now have no sound to speak of. Deaf parents and their kids sign at breakfast, in the car, at bedtime, and hearing viewers stay to learn a word or two.

If that is how you got here, this is where to start: what ASL is, and the first 20 signs worth knowing.

Is ASL a real language?

Yes. American Sign Language has its own vocabulary and grammar, and it is not a signed version of English. It is also not universal: British Sign Language is a different language, and a British signer and an American signer do not automatically understand each other.

The grammar lives partly on the face. Raised eyebrows can turn a statement into a yes-or-no question; furrowed brows mark a who, what or where question. Signing with a blank face is like speaking in a flat robot voice.

How do you sign hello, thank you and please in ASL?

These are described for a right-handed signer. Left-handed signers mirror them.

1. Hello. A flat hand starts at the side of your forehead and moves outward, like a relaxed salute.

2. Thank you. Touch the fingertips of a flat hand to your chin, then move the hand forward and down toward the person you are thanking.

3. Please. Put a flat hand on your chest and rub it in a circle.

4. Sorry. Make a fist with the thumb resting on the side, and circle it on your chest.

5. Yes. Make a fist and bend it at the wrist up and down, like a head nodding.

6. No. Extend your index and middle fingers and snap them down onto your thumb.

7. I love you. Hold up your hand with the thumb, index finger and pinky extended, middle and ring fingers down. It combines the letters I, L and Y.

What are the most useful ASL signs to learn first?

8. Help. A fist with the thumb up rests on the open palm of your other hand; lift both together.

9. More. Pinch the fingertips of each hand together and tap the two hands against each other.

10. Eat. Pinch your fingertips together and tap them at your lips.

11. Drink. Curve your hand as if holding a cup and tip it toward your mouth.

12. Water. Make a W with three fingers up and tap your index finger on your chin.

13. Name. Extend the index and middle fingers of both hands, then tap the fingers of one hand across the other twice, forming an X.

14. Friend. Hook your two index fingers together, then flip them and hook them the other way.

15. Mom. Open hand, fingers spread, tap your thumb on your chin. 16. Dad. Same handshape, thumb on your forehead.

17. Bathroom. Make the letter T, thumb tucked between index and middle fingers, and shake it side to side.

18. Finished. Hold both open hands palms-in, then flip them outward.

19. Nice to meet you. Slide one flat palm across the other, then bring two upright index fingers together.

20. Deaf. Touch your index finger near your ear, then near the corner of your mouth.

The next step is fingerspelling, the 26 handshapes for the alphabet, which is how names and new words get spelled out. A local Deaf-taught class beats any list, because signs vary by region and a teacher corrects the movement you cannot see yourself making.

What did Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur say about signing?

Marlee Matlin won Best Actress in 1987 for Children of a Lesser God, at 21, the first deaf performer to win an Oscar. Thirty-five years later she was in the cast of CODA, the film about a hearing daughter of deaf parents that won Best Picture.

Troy Kotsur, who played the father, won Best Supporting Actor for it in March 2022, the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar. He signed his speeches, including at the BAFTAs two weeks earlier.

A year later the same Oscar went to Ke Huy Quan, whose first ‘Temple of Doom’ check was almost $100,000.

Here is Matlin, in her own words and her own language, on what deaf actors still face in Hollywood.

More guides in Trending, including every type of wig, explained.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Gallaudet University; National Association of the Deaf; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIH), “American Sign Language” overview; Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (awards database); PBS NewsHour, Marlee Matlin’s Brief But Spectacular take on deaf actors in Hollywood. Photos: frames from PBS NewsHour and BBC, Troy Kotsur makes history as first deaf male actor to win a BAFTA.