To sign 'were', relax the dominant hand so it is flat. Bring the hand up, with the palm facing towards you, and wave the hand backwards over the shoulder of the dominant side. It should look like you are tossing something behind you.
In ASL, you establish the past tense first. You would sign 'were' by tossing your relaxed hand over your shoulder, followed by 'we go store'.
Sign 'were' by waving your flat hand backward over your shoulder to show the event happened in the past, then point to them and sign 'happy'.
Point to the person, sign 'were' by tossing your hand back over your shoulder, and then sign 'where' while keeping your eyebrows furrowed to ask a question.
In ASL, you establish the past tense first. You would sign 'were' by tossing your relaxed hand over your shoulder, followed by 'we go store'.
Sign 'were' by waving your flat hand backward over your shoulder to show the event happened in the past, then point to them and sign 'happy'.
Point to the person, sign 'were' by tossing your hand back over your shoulder, and then sign 'where' while keeping your eyebrows furrowed to ask a question.
ASL doesn't use 'to be' verbs like 'am,' 'is,' 'are,' or 'were' the same way English does. Instead, you use the sign for 'past'—tossing your hand over your shoulder—to establish that the action already happened.
Not always! In ASL, once you establish that you are talking about the past by signing 'were' (or 'yesterday'), you don't need to keep signing it for every sentence. The context stays in the past tense until you change it.
Your palm should face towards you as you bring your hand up. As you wave your hand backward over your shoulder, the palm naturally follows that backward motion, just like you are tossing something behind you.
