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ya

Spanish, conjunction/ˈʝa/

ya is spelled Y-A (2 letters) and appears 2,138 times per million words in written Spanish, the 37th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Ya is a Spanish conjunction meaning “first (something) then (something else); first (something), now (something else)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Comienza cada una de varias cláusulas con función distributiva.”.

What does ya mean in English?

adverb

  1. 1

    now, right now, (in the negative) anymore, no longer

    Near-synonyms: ahora, (colloquial, Latin America) ahorita

  2. 2

    by now, at this point

  3. 3

    indicates completion of an action (difference from sense 4 depends on context)

    OK, ya acabé de hacer lo que me pediste. ¿Queda algo más por hacer?

  4. 4

    yet (in questions)

    ¿Estamos allí ya?

  5. 5

    already

    Ya estoy en casa; llegué hace 5 horas.

  6. 6

    at some point in the future, later, eventually, soon, then, afterwards

    Near-synonym: ahorita

  7. 7

    immediately

    ¡Ya voy!

  8. 8

    only

    no ya...

conjunction

  1. 1

    first (something) then (something else); first (something), now (something else)

    ¡Ya lluvia ya nieve!

  2. 2

    whether (something) or (something else)

    ya sol ya lluvia

interjection

  1. 1

    come on!, let's go!

  2. 2

    colloquialused to tell the listener that one knows what they are saying is true; I know, that's true, (you're) right

    –Sabes que quedamos con Antonio esta tarde. –Ya.

  3. 3

    enough! no more! stop!

  4. 4

    OK

Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How Spanish dictionaries define it

adverb: 1. Antes del momento en cuestión, a menudo el actual. 2. Desde un punto anterior al momento en cuestión. 3. En el punto en cuestión, a diferencia de su pasado. 4. En el futuro, sin duda.

conjunction: 1. Comienza cada una de varias cláusulas con función distributiva..

interjection: 1. Manera de asentir o afirmar ante una invitación o sugerencia. 2. Equivale a ya basta, ya es suficiente.

The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.

Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of ya

  • ya ... ya ... canonical

Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

How do you pronounce ya?

  • /ˈʝa/
  • [ˈɟ͡ʝa]
  • [ˈʝa]

Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.

English words that translate to ya

Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.

How common is ya in Spanish?

ya appears 2,138 times per million words in written Spanish.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

What to look up after ya