How to Sign “Wife” in American Sign Language

The short answer

In American Sign Language (ASL), WIFE is a compound sign. It joins a marker for “female,” made near the jaw or chin, with the sign MARRY, where one hand comes down to clasp the other. Together they mean, roughly, “the woman one is married to.”

One point changes the answer completely: which sign language you mean. ASL is used in the United States and much of Canada. It is not universal. British Sign Language, Auslan, Langue des Signes Française and other national sign languages have their own signs for wife, and those signs can look nothing like the ASL version. If the person you are signing with uses a different sign language, the description below may not be understood.

How to sign WIFE, step by step

These steps assume your dominant hand is the one you write with. Left-handed signers simply mirror the instructions.

• 1. Make the female marker. Hold your dominant hand with the thumb extended. Touch the thumb to your cheek near the jaw, then draw it down along the jawline toward the chin. This location on the lower face marks many female-related signs, such as GIRL, MOTHER and SISTER.
• 2. Prepare your non-dominant hand. While you sign the marker, hold your non-dominant hand in front of your body at about waist or chest height. Curve it into a loose cupped or C shape with the palm facing up.
• 3. Bring the dominant hand down. Move your dominant hand from the chin area down toward the waiting hand, shaping it into the same curved form as it travels.
• 4. Clasp. Lay the dominant hand onto the non-dominant hand from above so the two hands clasp, as if joining hands. This clasp is the MARRY part of the sign.
• 5. Keep it smooth. Sign it as one fluid movement from face to clasp, with no pause between the two parts.

Some signers use a slightly different handshape for the female marker, such as an open hand with the thumb touching the chin, rather than tracing the jaw. Regional and generational variation like this is normal in ASL. The feature that stays the same across these versions is the movement from the lower face down into the marriage clasp.

Saying “my wife”

To say “my wife,” sign MY first. Place your flat dominant hand, palm in, against your chest. Then sign WIFE. In casual conversation, some signers sign WIFE and then point or gesture toward themselves. Facial expression and context also carry meaning, so a natural, relaxed face suits a simple introduction such as “This is my wife.”

A useful contrast: HUSBAND

HUSBAND follows the same pattern, but it starts with a male marker. The dominant hand begins near the forehead, the area used for male-related signs such as BOY, FATHER and BROTHER, and then comes down into the same marriage clasp. If you remember “forehead for male, jaw for female,” you are less likely to mix up the two.

Common mistakes

• Starting at the forehead, which turns the sign into HUSBAND.
• Leaving the non-dominant hand flat or palm down, which makes the clasp unclear.
• Pausing between the marker and the clasp so that it reads as two separate signs.
• Making the movement very small and close to the body, which is hard to read from a distance or on a screen.

How to check that you are signing it correctly

Practise in front of a mirror, or record a short video of yourself, and check three things. The sign should start on the lower face, not the forehead. Both hands should be curved when they meet. The movement should flow from face to clasp without a break. If you sign over video, keep both your face and your hands inside the frame, because the starting location carries the meaning.

A mirror or recording shows whether you are copying the description faithfully. It cannot confirm that your version matches how signers in your community actually use the word. The reliable check is to watch a fluent or Deaf signer demonstrate WIFE, or to ask one to watch you. Written descriptions of movement are always an approximation.

If you are unsure, or need a different term

If you are not confident in the sign, fingerspelling W-I-F-E is an acceptable fallback, and fluent signers will understand it. If you want a gender-neutral word such as spouse or partner, or the sign for wife in a language other than ASL, ask a fluent signer of that language or consult an instructor-led course. This guide does not cover those signs, and they should not be guessed.

Limits of this guide

This article describes the commonly taught ASL sign from general knowledge of the language. No video demonstration, source dictionary entry or regional survey was supplied with it, so it cannot show the full range of local variants. Before using the sign in an important setting, confirm it against a demonstration by a qualified signer.