2torial 0510 - Step3:
Learn2 Understand Basic American Sign Language (Continued)

Learn numbers and number patterns

Like the manual alphabet, some of the handshapes for numbers are also used in signs. The first group, zero through nine, will probably be familiar to you. Note that the sign for "three" uses the thumb instead of the middle three fingers (just remember that "thumb" and "three" both start with "th-").

Numbers 10 and above are a little less intuitive, but you'll begin to recognize patterns as you get used to them:

Numbers 21-99 have a slightly different pattern. Like 16-19, the first digit is signed and then followed by the second digit. The difference is that for 21-99, the palm position doesn't change between numbers (with only a few exceptions, explained next). Additionally, numbers 21-29 use the "L" handshape for the "2", but numbers 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 use 3, 4, 5 (and so on), respectively, for their first digit.

Exceptions

As you can see with the number 22, numbers with double digits (22, 33, 44, 55, etc.) all have the same handshape but with a slight change of palm position for each digit. The same goes for numbers 67, 68, 69, 78 and 89, which have a left-to-right change of palm position, and 76, 86, 87, 96, 97 and 98, which have a right-to-left change of palm position.

Numbers 100, 1,000 and 1,000,000 are signed as follows: