How to Sign Office in American Sign Language

The short answer

In American Sign Language (ASL), OFFICE is commonly signed with both hands in an O handshape that outline the walls of a room. Your hands first act as the two side walls, then shift to act as the front and back walls. It uses the same movement as the ASL sign for ROOM or BOX, but with O handshapes. Using a letter handshape to mark a related word this way is called initialization.

Two points can change this answer. First, this describes American Sign Language, the main sign language in the United States. British Sign Language, Auslan and other sign languages are separate languages with their own signs, so this sign may not carry over. Second, ASL varies by region, community and individual signer. Some people sign ROOM for office in context or fingerspell O-F-F-I-C-E. If you meant signing in to Microsoft Office, that is a different topic and isn't covered here.

Step by step

• 1. Form an O with each hand. Curve all four fingers so their tips meet the tip of your thumb, leaving a rounded opening, like the letter O in the ASL manual alphabet.
• 2. Place both hands in front of your chest, about shoulder-width apart, with the O shapes facing each other. Your hands are now the left and right walls of a room.
• 3. Move your hands to the second position. Turn them so the O shapes face your body, with one hand closer to your chest and the other farther out. Your hands are now the front and back walls.
• 4. Keep the movement short and controlled. You are sketching a small box in the space in front of you, not tracing a large shape.

Some references show the two positions in the opposite order, or with slight differences in how far apart the hands sit. The defining features are the O handshapes and the two positions that outline a box.

How OFFICE differs from similar signs

Sign | Handshape | Movement

OFFICE | O on both hands | Outline the sides of a box, then the front and back

ROOM | Flat hands, or R handshapes in an initialized version | Same box-outlining movement

BOX | Flat hands | Same box-outlining movement

Because these signs share a movement, the handshape is what tells a viewer you mean OFFICE. If your fingers flatten out or drift open, the sign can read as ROOM or BOX. Context also helps. In a sentence about work or a doctor's visit, a fluent signer will usually understand OFFICE even with small variations.

How to check that you're signing it correctly

• Compare your sign with a video from a reputable ASL dictionary or course, ideally one that shows Deaf signers. Video shows movement and timing better than written steps.
• Watch yourself in a mirror, or record a short clip, and check three things: both hands hold a clear O, the first position shows the side walls, and the second shows the front and back walls.
• Ask a fluent signer, ideally a Deaf ASL user or a qualified instructor, to watch you. They are the most reliable check, and they can tell you if your local community signs OFFICE differently.

A self-check confirms that your handshape and movement match a reference. It can't confirm that the sign is natural, fluent or the preferred local form. Only feedback from people who use ASL every day can establish that.

What this guide doesn't cover

No supplied source confirmed regional variants of OFFICE or how often each form is used, so this guide doesn't rank variants or say which is most common in a particular area. Facial expression and mouthing, which are part of natural ASL, aren't described here either. For those details, learn from Deaf instructors or community resources in your area.