When is it appropriate to use the word 'ya' in a sentence?
I haven't yet learned to use 'ya' when forming my own sentences, and I am a bit confused about how it fits into a sentence form. I see it used a lot when I am reading Spanish texts, and I was curious about it. Any help?
8 Answers
I know that it means "already," but I think it is used for emphasis too.
¡Ya entiendo! Now I get it!
¡Hazlo ya! Do it now!
¡Ya está bien! Knock it off!
Ya es hora. It's about time.
From my dictionary.
ya adverbio
1 (referido al pasado)
already
¿Ya lo has terminado? / Have you finished it already?
Ya lo habíamos dicho. / We’d already said so.
2 (referido al presente)
now
Estaba muy enfermo pero ya está bien. / He was very ill but he’s fine now.
¡Levántate ya! / Get up now!
Eso ya es historia. / That’s history by now.
3 (referido al futuro)
Ya veremos. / We’ll see.
Ya te escribirán. / They’ll write to you (eventually).
4 (sí)
OK — Quiero que nos acompañes. — Ya, pero más tarde. /
‘I want you to come with us.’ ‘OK, but later.’
Ya, ya, no insistas. / OK, OK, don’t go on.
5 (uso enfático)
Ya veo. / Oh, I see.
Sí, ya entiendo. / Yes, I understand.
Ya verás, ya. / Just you wait and see.
¡Ya comes, ya! / You do eat a lot.
Ya se ha dormido. / He’s gone to sleep.
Ya lo sé. I know.
interjección ¡ya!
1 (claro) of course!
— Pero, si lo compraste tú. — ¿Ya, pero y qué? / ‘But you were the one to buy it.’ ‘But so what?’
2 (incredulidad)
come off it! — Yo no me lo he comido. — ¡Ya, ya! / ‘I didn’t eat it.’ ‘Come off it!’
desde ya / straight away
no ya… sino… / not just… but…
Cuídate, no ya por ti, sino por mí. / Look after yourself, not just for your own sake but for mine.
ya es algo / well, it’s something
¡ya está! / that’s it!
ya está bien / that’s quite enough
Ya está bien de perder el tiempo. / That’s quite enough time wasting.
Ya está bien de juegos. / That’s quite enough fooling around.
ya no / not… any more
— ¿Todavía se despierta por las noches? — Ya no. / ‘Does he still wake up at night?’ ‘Not any more.’
Ya no salen juntos. / They aren’t going out together any more.
ya que / as
Ya que voy, no me cuesta nada recogerte. / As I’m going anyway, I can easily pick you up.
¡ya voy! / I'm coming!
"Ya" is a great word, but it has so many different uses that your question has no easy answer. I'm not a native, but I'm always learning new ways to use this word. I'll give you a few examples.
Ya = already. Ya lo he leido ese libro.
Ya = soon. Ya veremos.
Ya + no = no longer. Juan ya no trabaja aquí. Pobrecito. 
YA dude
¡YA! - Enough!
If you hear someone on the phone saying ya many times, it means, yea, I get it. Or yea, comprendo.
I'm with you on this one. It took me a long time to understand 'ya'.
I think of it this way for many of the uses of ya - ya marks a line in time and that line is now, the present. It is clearly not as simple as ya meaning now although 'now' is one of the meanings of ya. Other meaning of ya are now, relative to the past and now, relative to the future.
Ya lo hice - I've already done it. Here, ya means already. At this point in time the task has been done - you have already done it.
Fumaba pero ya no (más) - I used to smoke but I don't any more. Here 'ya' means any more. At this point in time, you do not do it - you could also translate it as 'I used to smoke but now no/I don't' - not as natural in English but makes it easier to see the reference to the present moment, i.e. 'now'.
Ya is also used to refer to things you will do in the future - ya te llamo/llamaré - I'll call you later/similar. I suspect, but have no basis on which to declare this, that something similar is going on to the way in which we use 'now' in English. Many people say 'now' without meaning it - how many times have you heard 'I'll do it now' and understood it to mean that it will be done later. Amongst the Sith Ifricans that I know, now is so vague as to need qualifying - 'now now' means 'now' and 'just now' means some time in the future. Where I grew up you hear the phrase 'now in a minute' - self-contradictory yet allowing one to both comply with someone's request to do something now, whilst at the same time letting them know that indeed you will do it in your own time.
I hope that that helps your understanding of the 'yas' that have some time reference. There are other uses, explained in the dictionary that I think are fairly easy to get to grips with. I'm not a native speaker so my Spanish above might not be perfect...
"Ya" is a really interesting adverb because it means a lot of things depending on context. In the present tense it means now or already, except in a negative construction when it means no longer:
Ya lo sé - I already know it. Ya estoy listo - Now I'm ready. Ya no trabajo allí - I no longer work there.
In the past though, it almost always means already: Ya lo hice, I already did it.
In the future, it means later:
Ya lo haré - I'll do it later.
Or to offer assurance:
Ya verás que llegará en punto - You'll see that he'll arrive on time.
It can mean since/because:
Ya que no está aquí, no pedemos empezar.
To indicate frustration:
¡Basta ya! - Enough already!
¡Ya era hora! - It's about time!
To express agreement:
¡Ya, ya! - Oh sure!
Or ironic, mock agreement:
Ya, y el papa es luterano. - Sure, and the Pope is Lutheran!
The most important tihing is that it is an adverb. And as an adverb it must be close or even before or after a verb, or before or after another adverb, such as the negative adverb "no".
Ya vine.
Ya llegué.
Ya no trabaja aquí.
Ya no te quiero.
Ya es muy tarde.
Ya estoy lleno.
As you can see, ya is allways before the verb.
You could use it after the verb too:
Dámelo ya.
Ven ya.
No voy a ir ya.
You could also say:
Ya te vi.
Ya me voy.
Ya lo leí.
So you can say the pronoun between the adverb and the verb.
