How to Sign “All Day” in American Sign Language

The short answer

In American Sign Language (ASL), “all day” is usually signed as one sign, often written in English as ALL-DAY. It shows the sun crossing the sky. Your non-dominant forearm lies flat in front of your body like the horizon. Your dominant arm, with the elbow resting on or near the back of the flat hand, sweeps in a wide arc from one side to the other, like the sun rising and setting.

This guide covers ASL as used in the United States. Other sign languages, such as British Sign Language, have their own signs, so this description may not apply if you are communicating in a different sign language.

Points that can change the sign

• Literal duration: ALL-DAY means “the whole day” or “all day long,” as in “I worked all day.”
• The English word “day” on its own is a related but different sign. It uses a smaller, partial movement rather than a full sweep.
• Idioms such as “I could do this all day” are usually expressed by meaning, not translated word for word. A fluent signer may phrase them differently.
• Signers vary by region and community, so you may see small differences in handshape, starting position or arc size.

Step by step: signing ALL-DAY

• 1. Set the horizon. Hold your non-dominant forearm horizontally across the front of your body, palm facing down. Keep the hand flat with the fingers together.
• 2. Position the dominant arm. Bring your dominant elbow onto or near the back of your non-dominant hand. Hold your dominant hand with the index finger extended or with a flat hand, as shown in the reference you follow.
• 3. Start at sunrise. Begin with your dominant arm angled low toward your dominant side, near the level of the “horizon” arm.
• 4. Sweep across. Move your dominant arm in a broad arc up and across your body toward your non-dominant side, keeping the elbow anchored as the pivot.
• 5. End at sunset. Finish with your dominant arm lowered toward your non-dominant arm, as if the sun has set.

Showing emphasis

In ASL, how you move often adds meaning. A slower, more drawn-out sweep with a matching facial expression can stress that something lasted a very long time, such as a tiring day of waiting. A plain, steady movement keeps the meaning neutral. Facial expression is part of the grammar in ASL, so a fluent signer is the best guide to which expressions fit your sentence.

How to check your signing

• Practice in front of a mirror and confirm that your non-dominant arm stays level and still throughout.
• Check that the arc covers the full side-to-side path. A short drop from upright to down is closer to the sign for DAY.
• Make sure your dominant elbow stays near the back of the base hand instead of drifting away from it.
• Compare your movement with a video entry in a reputable ASL dictionary, since a still description cannot fully show speed and arc shape.

Limitations of this guide

No specific dictionary entries, video references or instructor demonstrations were supplied for this article. The description above follows the generally taught form of ALL-DAY but cannot confirm every regional or community variant. For signing that will be used in real conversations, check with a video dictionary made with Deaf signers or ask a Deaf ASL instructor for feedback.