7 Ways to Use Ya in Spanish

Learning Spanish often means discovering small words that carry a lot of meaning, and Ya is one of the most useful. Learn 7 ways to use Ya in daily conversations, from telling someone to do something right now to letting someone know you’ve already done something, you’ll wonder why you never tried to master this little word before.

You can use ya to talk about things you already did or have already done. To do this, you simply combine ya with a verb in either el pretérito indefinido or el presente perfecto. Here are some examples:

Ya comí.	I already ate.
Susana ya llegó a la terminal de buses.	Susana already arrived at the bus terminal.
Los estudiantes ya han terminado la tarea.	The students have already finished the homework.

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In forming a question to someone about if they have or haven’t done something, then ya becomes yet or stays as already. Let’s take a look:

¿Ya comiste?	Did you eat already/yet?
¿Ya llegó Susana?	Did Susana arrive already/yet?
¿Los estudiantes ya han terminado?	Have the students finished already/yet?

Remember, if the answer isn’t yes, I’ve done it already, and in fact, they are still doing it or still haven’t done it, then make sure to use todavía instead of ya.

For example:

• Ella todavía no ha comido. (She still hasn’t eaten yet).
• Susana está viajando todavía. (Susana is still traveling).

Did you know that you can use ya in Spanish to say right now? That’s correct. You can use ya to say when you want something done right away, much like ahora mismo.

Fun fact: ahora in Spanish does not mean right now, it just means now in the present. Therefore, if you say you want something done ahora, guess what? It probably won’t happen right away. As a matter of fact, this author interprets the phrase lo hago ahora, as “I’ll do it later today.

So, if you want to tell someone to do something right away, use ya or ahora mismo. In the following examples, notice that in English, we don’t necessarily have to include “right” before “now” to imply that something should be done right now. Check the examples:

¡Hazlo ya!	Do it now!
Empieza ya.	Start now.
¿Usted puede ya o más tarde?	Can you do it now or later?

In this way to use ya in Spanish, you are expressing to someone that the action will happen soon. Use ya with a verb in the present tense to say an action will happen very soon. Some of these expressions are very common in Spanish and you’ll probably start to pick up on them right away.

Ya voy.	I’m coming / I’ll be there soon.
Ya regreso.	I’ll be right back.
Ya termino.	I’m about to finish.

Another great usage of ya is to say that’s enough. It’s that simple! For example, if someone is bugging you, you might say ¡Ya basta! Or, often you could just say ya in an annoyed tone of voice and that would do the trick (hopefully).

In this usage of ya, we use it to express the same ideas as anymore and other similar variations, like no longer. In this sense, it is a negative expression and always works with no. Let’s see some examples:

Ya no vivimos allí.	We don’t live there anymore.
Ya no puedo ir a la fiesta.	I can’t go to the party anymore.
Ya no tengo tiempo para eso.	I don’t have time anymore for that.

Finally, the last usage to cover is ya to mean I got it. This is another simple way to use ya in Spanish. So, the next time someone is explaining something to you, and you get it, you can just say ya. What you’re implying is ya entiendo or I understand already.

As you can see, ya is a small word with important meanings in Spanish. Paying attention to context, like statements, questions, or commands, will help you understand which meaning of ya is being used. With practice, you’ll start to hear it naturally in conversations and be able to use it confidently.