In ASL, why is the past tense of 'watch' not necessary when you say 'yesterday'?

In ASL, why is the past tense of 'watch' not necessary when you say 'yesterday'?

• A. because 'yesterday' already indicates the past
• B. because ASL uses tense markers on verbs only
• C. because time words are ignored
• D. because sign order indicates tense

Answer: (A)

Time words set the time frame in ASL. When you include a word like yesterday, it already signals that the action happened in the past, so the verb doesn’t need a separate past-tense marker. In ASL, verbs aren’t conjugated for tense the way they are in English; tense is conveyed through the time expression and the overall context, not by modifying the verb itself. If you want to emphasize past in other contexts, you’d rely on time words or context rather than a dedicated past-tense ending on the verb. The other options misstate how ASL marks time: time words aren’t ignored, verbs aren’t uniquely marked for tense, and tense isn’t determined solely by sign order.

Time words set the time frame in ASL. When you include a word like yesterday, it already signals that the action happened in the past, so the verb doesn’t need a separate past-tense marker. In ASL, verbs aren’t conjugated for tense the way they are in English; tense is conveyed through the time expression and the overall context, not by modifying the verb itself. If you want to emphasize past in other contexts, you’d rely on time words or context rather than a dedicated past-tense ending on the verb. The other options misstate how ASL marks time: time words aren’t ignored, verbs aren’t uniquely marked for tense, and tense isn’t determined solely by sign order.