If ya were Barcelona, we just visited the Sagrada Familia. The sooner you learn to notice these things, the more sense Spanish will make.Look at the three sentences above, and see if you can notice differences in their contexts.The secret to understanding ya is in the verb tenseThe verb in Esta peli la vi en el cine is in the past, the verb in Verás como te gusta más is in the future, and the verb in Lo que has dicho no cuela is in the present.The reason why ya can be confusing is that it's sometimes translated as already, others as now or yet, and often it's not translated at all.The key to avoiding the confusion is to realize that these are just different applications of the same principle:Ya is used to emphasize that a change from "not happened" to "happened" took place at a given time.Esta peli ya la vi en el cine.There was a time in the past when I hadn't yet seen this movie, but at some point later I saw it (I already saw it).Ya verás como te gusta.You don't like it now, but I promise that at some future time you will.Lo que has dicho ya no cuela.In the past, I would have believed you, but now I don't.Since ya is only used to emphasize, you could omit it and still get your point across, but you'd be missing out on spoonfuls of Spanish flavor.If you want to get out of Spanish Intermediate Purgatory, you have to get comfortable with ya.Okay. Subject, intonation, word order: all these variables play together to determine the meaning of each sentence. Words don't exist in isolation-they live in sentences.Sentences behave differently when they contain one verb or multiple verbs, or when the verb is in the past, in the present or in the future tense. What's the deal?Words don't make sense unless you understand their contextBefore we start discussing ya's private life, let's talk about context.
That movie, I already saw it in the (movie theatre) and I am still waiting (so that) they give me back those two hours of my life."-Ya verás como la segunda vez te gusta más."(At some future time) you will see how the second time (you watch it) it pleases you more."-Mira, la semana pasada me recomendaste Transformers y casi me suicido, así que ya no cuela."Look, (the) last week you recommended Transformers (to me) and I almost (suicide / kill) myself, so (it doesn't go through the strainer / I don't believe you) now/anymore"Already, at some future time, now/anymore.
The reason why you often see more ya's in a Spanish dialogue than tears in a hot sauce convention is that ya is an incredibly expressive word.In most classrooms, it is usually translated as already but out there in the wild, it has a bunch of other interesting meanings:-¡No, por favor! Esa peli ya la vi en el cine y todavía estoy esperando a que me devuelvan esas dos horas de mi vida."No, please.
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