To sign 'I don't want,' start with both hands open in front of you, palms facing up. Then, flip your hands over so your palms face down while dropping them slightly. Make sure to shake your head 'no' while doing this to emphasize the negative meaning.
Sign 'I don't want' followed by the sign for 'go'. Your head shake during 'I don't want' sets the negative tone for the entire sentence.
Sign 'food', then 'more', and finish with 'I don't want'. In ASL, the negative verb often comes at the end of the sentence to emphasize the refusal.
Sign 'sleep' followed by 'I don't want'. Remember to keep your facial expression matching the refusal, showing that you are not ready for bed.
Sign 'I don't want' followed by the sign for 'go'. Your head shake during 'I don't want' sets the negative tone for the entire sentence.
Sign 'food', then 'more', and finish with 'I don't want'. In ASL, the negative verb often comes at the end of the sentence to emphasize the refusal.
Sign 'sleep' followed by 'I don't want'. Remember to keep your facial expression matching the refusal, showing that you are not ready for bed.
Usually, you don't have to! If you are talking about yourself, the context and the fact that you are the one signing makes it clear. You can simply sign 'don't want' and the 'I' is implied.
Flipping the hands over is a grammatical feature called negative incorporation. It takes the base idea of 'want' and reverses its meaning by visually dropping or rejecting the object, making the language more efficient.
While people might understand you, it is not natural ASL. Using the single, fluid motion of 'don't want' is much more fluent and is the standard way Deaf people express this concept.
