The ASL sign for DURING is made by holding both index fingers out in front of you, pointing forward, and moving them downward in a parallel arc. It’s a relatively simple sign to produce, but using it correctly requires attention to hand movement, facial expression, and where you place it in a sentence.
How to Form the Sign
Start by extending both index fingers with your other fingers curled in (the “1” handshape on both hands). Hold them in front of your body at about chest height, pointing forward and slightly upward. Then move both hands downward and slightly forward in a smooth, arcing motion. Both hands move together at the same time and stay parallel throughout the movement.
The motion should feel like you’re tracing a short curve through the air, not a sharp downward chop. Keep the movement controlled and fluid. Your palms generally face downward or slightly inward during the arc.
DURING vs. WHILE
DURING and WHILE look similar in ASL, which trips up a lot of learners. Both use index fingers, but the movement and facial grammar differ slightly. WHILE typically involves a more sustained or repeated movement to emphasize two actions happening at the same time, while DURING tends to frame a single period when something occurred. Pay close attention to how your instructor or native signers produce each one, because the difference is subtle and largely carried by the rhythm of the motion and facial expression.
Where DURING Goes in a Sentence
ASL sentences follow a Time + Topic + Comment structure. Time indicators go at the beginning of the sentence to set the frame for everything that follows. DURING functions as a time indicator, so it belongs at the front.
For example, if you wanted to say “During the movie, I fell asleep,” you would sign it roughly as: DURING MOVIE, I FALL-ASLEEP. The time marker (DURING MOVIE) comes first, establishing when the action happened, and then the topic and comment follow. This is different from English, where “during” can land in the middle of a sentence. In ASL, front-loading the time reference tells the viewer right away what time frame you’re working in.
ASL verbs don’t change form to show tense. There’s no past or future version of a verb. Instead, the time sign at the beginning of the sentence does all that work. Once you establish the time frame with DURING (or any time marker like YESTERDAY, TOMORROW, LAST-WEEK), every verb that follows is understood within that context until you set a new one.
Facial Expression Matters
In ASL, your face carries grammatical information, not just emotion. When signing DURING, your facial expression should match the context of what you’re describing. If you’re talking about a long or intense period, you might slightly puff your cheeks or use pursed lips to convey that weight. If the duration was brief or recent, bringing your cheek closer to your shoulder (sometimes called the “cheek-to-shoulder” marker) can add that nuance.
These non-manual markers aren’t optional decoration. They change the meaning of what you’re signing. DURING with a neutral face and DURING with puffed cheeks communicate different things about how long or intense the time period was. Practice the sign in front of a mirror so you can see what your face is doing alongside your hands.
A Common Mistake to Avoid
English speakers learning ASL often try to use the sign for IN to express time concepts, because English uses “in” for time all the time: “in an hour,” “in the past,” “in the morning.” In ASL, the sign IN (or INSIDE) refers to physical location, not time. Using it for time is a sign of English-based thinking rather than ASL grammar.
Instead, ASL uses specific time signs for these concepts. “In an hour” becomes something like LATER ONE-HOUR. “In the past” becomes BEFORE or LONG-TIME-AGO. And for expressing that something happened throughout a stretch of time, you use DURING. Keeping location signs and time signs separate is one of the clearest ways to move from translating English word-by-word toward actually thinking in ASL structure.
Practicing the Sign
Build a few simple sentences using DURING as your time marker and practice them in sequence. Try signing “During class, I was bored” or “During summer, I work.” Each time, start with DURING plus the event or time period, then add your topic and comment. This repetition trains your brain to default to the Time + Topic + Comment order instead of falling back into English word order.
Watching native signers use DURING in context is one of the fastest ways to internalize the movement and rhythm. Video dictionaries like Handspeak show the sign in isolation, which is helpful for learning the handshape, but conversational ASL videos will show you how the sign flows naturally into a full sentence with appropriate facial grammar and pacing.