tja
German, interjection/tja/
tja is spelled T-J-A (3 letters) and appears 35 times per million words in written German, the 2,344th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Tja is a German interjection meaning “well, hmm” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
What does tja mean in English?
interjection
- 1
well, hmm
Was schlägst du vor? – Tja, ich schlage vor, dass wir ins Kino gehen.
- 2
Used to express acceptance of one's misfortune; oh well, welp
Tja! Das war wohl nichts...
- 3
Used as an unsympathetic response to someone else's misfortune, implying it was predictable or is otherwise simply to be accepted; tough luck
Tja, wenn er will, dass ich mich darum kümmere, dann hätte er sich rechtzeitig bei mir melden müssen.
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
particle: 1. drückt eine, häufig negativ gefärbte Zusammenfassung, ein Zwischenergebnis eines Gespräches, das Eintreten einer vorher gemachten Aussage aus; regt eine, häufig auch skeptisch gemeinte Gedankenpause an
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce tja?
- /tja/
- /tjaː/
- [tja]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to tja
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is tja in German?
tja appears 35 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).