An agreement verb is an important aspect of American Sign Language (ASL) which helps to convey information about the subject and object of a sentence. It is a type of verb that provides information about the direction and location of the subject and object in relation to the signer.
In ASL, agreement verbs are used in conjunction with directional verbs to create a clearer understanding of the subject and object of a sentence. For example, if you wanted to indicate that someone is giving you a piece of paper, you would use the agreement verb “give” in addition to the directional verb for “to” (which indicates the direction the paper is moving).
There are a few different types of agreement verbs used in ASL, including subject-verb agreement, object-verb agreement, and subject-object-verb agreement. Subject-verb agreement is when the agreement verb agrees with the subject of the sentence in terms of location and direction. Object-verb agreement is when the agreement verb agrees with the object of the sentence in terms of location and direction. Finally, subject-object-verb agreement occurs when the agreement verb agrees with both the subject and the object of the sentence in terms of location and direction.
For example, let`s say you wanted to indicate that you were signing a book for your friend. You would use the agreement verb “sign” in addition to the directional verb for “to” (to indicate the direction the book is moving) and the appropriate subject-verb agreement to indicate that you are the signer and your friend is the recipient.
ASL incorporates these agreement verbs to convey important information about the subject and object of a sentence, and it is important to master them in order to communicate effectively in ASL. By practicing and honing your skills, you can become a proficient communicator in this unique and expressive language.