Search and compare thousands of words and phrases in American Sign Language (ASL). The largest collection online.
How to sign: have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
"John is rich"; "This is not a good answer";
Within this category: abound, accept, account, account for, act, answer, appear, balance, beat, begin, begin, belong, belong, belong, be well, breathe, buy, clean, cohere, come in for, come in handy, compact, compare, confuse, connect, consist, consist, contain, contain, continue, cost, count, cover, cut, cut across, deck, depend, deserve, disagree, distribute, diverge, draw, end, fall, fall, feel, figure, fit, gape, go, gravitate, hail, hang, head, hold, hoodoo, hum, impend, incarnate, iridesce, jumble, kill, lend, let go, lie, litter, loiter, look, look, lubricate, make, make sense, measure, mope, object, osculate, owe, pass, pay, point, press, promise, prove, put out, rage, range, rank, rate, recognize, relate, remain, represent, rest, run, run into, rut, seem, seethe, sell, sell, sell, shine, shine, sparkle, specify, squat, stagnate, stagnate, stand, stand, stand by, stay, stay, stick, stink, subtend, suffer, suffer, suit, swing, tend, test, total, translate, transplant, trim, underlie, want, wash, wind, work
How to sign: be identical to; be someone or something
"The president of the company is John Smith"; "This is my house";
Similiar / Same: is, am, being, be
How to sign: the English word "are," used in ASL to emphasize the exact English phrasing
"my favorite TV series as a kid was Are You Afraid of the Dark", "the second-person form of 'be' is 'are'";
How to sign: have an existence, be extant
"Is there a God?";
Similiar / Same: am, is, exist, be
Within this category: coexist, come, distribute, dwell, endanger, flow, kick around, preexist, prevail