In American Sign Language, the English phrase “will be” is expressed differently than you might expect. ASL doesn’t combine a future marker with a separate word for “be” the way English does. Instead, the concept splits into two parts: a sign for WILL that marks the future tense, and a grammar system that handles “being” without a direct equivalent of the English verb “to be.” Understanding both pieces lets you express “will be” naturally in ASL.
How to Sign WILL
The sign for WILL uses what’s called an open B handshape, which is a flat hand with fingers together and extended. Start with your palm facing to the left, positioned near the side of your head. Move your hand forward while tipping your fingers forward at the same time. The result is a smooth outward motion that visually represents moving into the future.
This same sign also covers “shall” and “would,” with context and facial expression clarifying the meaning. The forward direction of the movement is key. ASL uses spatial relationships to communicate time: the area in front of your body represents the future, the space near your body is the present, and the area behind you is the past. So the forward motion of WILL isn’t arbitrary. It physically points toward the future.
Why There’s No Direct Sign for “Be”
English relies heavily on forms of “to be” (is, am, are, was, will be), but ASL handles this concept completely differently. For years, linguists described ASL as having a “null copula,” meaning it simply dropped the verb “to be” entirely. More recent research from linguistic studies of ASL predication has found that’s not quite accurate. ASL often uses the sign SELF as a copula, filling the role that “is” or “be” plays in English.
The sign SELF tends to appear with adjectives that describe permanent or long-lasting qualities. For example, if you wanted to say someone “will be tall” or “will be Deaf,” the sign SELF would likely appear in that sentence alongside the future marker. For temporary states or descriptions, ASL may rely on other structures, including simply placing the descriptive sign after the subject without any copula at all.
This means “will be” in English doesn’t translate to two neat signs in ASL. Instead, you sign WILL to establish the future tense and then express the rest of the idea using ASL’s own grammar.
How “Will Be” Works in ASL Sentences
ASL grammar typically follows a topic-comment structure rather than the subject-verb-object order of English. When expressing future events, you establish the time frame first (often at the beginning of the sentence), then deliver the main content. Here’s how that plays out in practice.
If you wanted to say “I will help you,” you’d combine the signs for I, WILL, HELP, and YOU, with the forward motion on WILL establishing the future. For “I will see you later,” you’d sign I, SEE, YOU, and LATER, with the time marker LATER reinforcing the future meaning. In many cases, once you’ve established the future tense with WILL or a time word like TOMORROW or LATER, you don’t need to repeat the future marker for every sentence in the conversation. The time frame stays active until you change it.
For a phrase like “it will be fun,” you wouldn’t sign WILL, then BE, then FUN. You’d sign something closer to FUTURE + FUN, or WILL + FUN, letting context do the work that “be” does in English. For “she will be a doctor,” you might sign SHE + WILL + DOCTOR, or use SELF to link the subject to the noun: SHE + FUTURE + DOCTOR + SELF.
Facial Expressions and Non-Manual Signals
ASL conveys a significant amount of grammatical information through facial expressions, head position, and body movement. These non-manual signals aren’t optional or decorative. They’re part of the grammar. When signing about the future, your facial expression and body language help communicate certainty, excitement, doubt, or other attitudes about what “will be.”
Raised eyebrows, for instance, often accompany yes/no questions and topicalized phrases. A slight forward lean of the body can reinforce the future direction. If you’re expressing that something will definitely happen versus something that might happen, your face does much of that work. Signing WILL with a firm, confident expression communicates certainty. Signing it with a slight head tilt and softer expression can shade toward “might be” or “could be.”
Common Mistakes English Speakers Make
The biggest pitfall is trying to translate English word for word. Signing WILL + BE as two separate concepts produces awkward, unnatural ASL. Native signers don’t insert a sign for “be” between the future marker and the rest of the sentence. If you find yourself looking for a sign that means “am,” “is,” or “are,” that’s a signal you’re thinking in English grammar rather than ASL grammar.
Another common error is over-signing the future tense. If you’ve already said TOMORROW or NEXT WEEK at the start of your sentence, adding WILL can be redundant. ASL is efficient. Once the time frame is set, repeating it clutters the message. Think of time markers in ASL like setting a scene: you establish when something happens, then you describe what happens, and the tense stays in place until you shift it.
Learning to drop “to be” from your mental translation process is one of the most important adjustments when moving from English to ASL. Rather than thinking “she will be happy” and trying to sign each word, think about the core meaning: future, she, happy. Then use ASL’s tools (the sign WILL, a time marker, facial expression, and sentence structure) to express that meaning naturally.