ja

[jaː]

/[jaː]/ particle

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“ja” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #60) as a particle. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#60
frequency rank, German
699
“J” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - drückt Zustimmung, Einverständnis aus

Corpus desk

Index DE-ja · ja · German

ja · rank #60 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #60
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 699
  • PHOTO-FINISH Habe

Nearest frequency peer: Habe (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “ja”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “ja” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ja vs je
50% similar
ja vs jo
50% similar
ja vs Jg
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ja
PropertyValue
Headwordja
LanguageGerman
Part of speechParticle
IPA[jaː]
Letters2
Frequency rank#60
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “ja” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). ja lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ja is neighbouring look-alikes ("je", "jo", …), not just typos; it is aparticle pronounced [jaː]. Frequency #60 among 699 “J” headwords. Gloss: "drückt Zustimmung, Einverständnis aus".

ja has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "je", "jo", "Jg", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is ja, spelled J-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    drückt Zustimmung, Einverständnis aus

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ja appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Surfst du im Internet?“ ‒ „Ja!“
  2. „Hast du mich betrogen?“ ‒ „Ja.“

Synonyms

gernin der Tatjawohljawollsehr wohl

Antonyms

neinkeinesfallsnöi wo

This word in other languages

yes(English)sí(Español)oui(Français)sim(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ja"?
"ja" is spelled J-A. The IPA pronunciation is [jaː].
What does "ja" mean?
As a particle, "ja" means: drückt Zustimmung, Einverständnis aus
What words are commonly confused with "ja"?
"ja" is commonly confused with "je", "jo", "Jg". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ja"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ja" is [jaː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ja" come from?
"ja" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list