ASL Structure: Time Topic Comment
ASL Gloss
ASL 1
TIME+TOPIC+COMMENT
Time= Tense of the sentence (pass, present, future)
Topic= Main subject
Comment= adjective/adverb/verb
Example: I bought a dog yesterday.
Time = yesterday
Topic = dog
Comment = I bought
Let’s put that into ASL Gloss: YESTERDAY DOG ME BUY
Now you see the word “buy” is put instead of “brought”.
1. BUY is the English name of the sign that indicates paying money for something
2. By signing YESTERDAY at the beginning of the sentence which indicates that this
happened in the past, thereby making BUY a past-tense sign. Otherwise, you may sign,
“DOG ME BUY FINISH”
3. Time if specific must be placed at the beginning of sentence in ASL.
Another example: I slept all night, but I still feel tired.
Time = all night
Topic = I sleep
Comment = I still feel tired.
Let’s put that into ASL Gloss: ALL NIGHT ME SLEEP STILL FEEL TIRED
NOTES**JUST REMEMBER THAT ASL DOES NOT HAVE WRITTEN FORM. YOU WRITE EXACTLY
WHAT YOU SIGN.
Create ASL sentences below.
Time
Topic
Comment
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.