A phrase is a few signs that always travel together. In ASL, phrases drop the English filler. "My name is Ziggy" becomes MY NAME and a fingerspelled name. "I don't understand" is two signs. You learn the phrase as one rhythm, and that rhythm is what makes you sound fluent instead of like someone reading a dictionary out loud.
These twenty-five phrases cover an entire first conversation: meeting, answering, asking for help, apologizing, and saying goodbye. Each clip is filmed as one smooth unit. Click any phrase to see the individual signs inside it.
Meeting someone
Start with a wave, then My Name Is. Fingerspell your name after it. The reply to How Are You? is usually I'm Fine or I'm Good, and the face does the real answering: a bright face with FINE means great, a flat face with FINE means tired, leave me alone.
The polite set
Thank You starts at the chin and moves toward the person you are thanking. You're Welcome is a sweep that opens toward them. Please is a flat hand circling on the chest. Sorry is a fist circling on the chest with an apologetic face. Excuse Me brushes the fingertips across the palm and is also how you get past someone in a crowd.
Yes, no, and I don't know
Yes nods a fist. No snaps the index and middle fingers down onto the thumb, with a head shake. Don't Know touches the forehead and flips the hand away. All three carry their meaning as much in the head as in the hand.
When you are stuck
I'm Learning ASL is your opener in any Deaf space. I Sign A Little sets expectations. Sign Slow and Sign Again are not rude; they are the same as saying "pardon?" in English, and people will use them with you too.
I Don't Understand is honest and expected. What Does That Mean? and How Do You Sign That? turn every conversation into a lesson. Ask them often; nobody minds.
Getting help and getting around
Can You Help Me? lifts the HELP sign toward the other person with a questioning face. Where Is The Bathroom? is the bathroom sign, a shaken T, followed by WHERE with lowered eyebrows. It is the one phrase everyone needs in every building.
Saying goodbye
See You Later moves the SEE sign forward. Have A Good Day is GOOD followed by DAY, and it is a warm way to end any exchange.
How to practice phrases
Phrases are rhythm. Watch the clip, then sign along with it at full speed three times, even if you are sloppy. Speed first, accuracy second, is the right order for phrases because the connections between the signs are the part your hands need to learn.
Then try it in context. Sign Hello, My Name Is, your name, Nice To Meet You as one continuous turn. That is a real introduction, and you can do it today.
For the grammar underneath these phrases, read ASL grammar vs English. For the next set of vocabulary, go to Question Words.