já
Portuguese, adverb/ˈʒa/
já is spelled J-Á (2 letters) and appears 2,089 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 43rd most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Já is a Portuguese adverb meaning “already (indicating that something has happened before)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “imediatamente”.
What does já mean in English?
adverb
- 1
already (indicating that something has happened before)
Já li esse livro.
- 2
now (at this instant)
Consigo fazer isso já.
- 3
any more; any longer
Eu já não leio mais muitos livros.
- 4
in a minute; soon
Não me apresse, eu já faço isso.
- 5
on the other hand, however
Gosto de ler, já a minha mãe não lê nem as notícias.
- 6
ever
O melhor bolo já feito
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
adverb: 1. imediatamente 2. agora 3. nesse ou neste momento
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of já
- ja alternative obsolete
- jah alternative Internet
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce já?
- Brazil /ˈʒa/
- Portugal /ˈʒa/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to já
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is já in Portuguese?
já appears 2,089 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).