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GERMAN · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

ja.

obviously; certainly; of course; as you know; as is generally known (indicates and emphasises that one is expressing an established fact)

2 characters1 syllables approx.Deutsch language

Meaning & usage

adv[jäː][ʝäː][jɑː]Austrian, German[jɒ~jɔ]

  1. obviously; certainly; of course; as you know; as is generally known (indicates and emphasises that one is expressing an established fact)

    modal · particle
    Es kann ja nicht immer so bleiben.
    Der Peter war ja gestern krank.

  2. under any circumstances, for (absolute) certain (often with the implication of pettiness, insecurity or overblown fear regarding the issue one wants certainty on)

    informal · modal · particle
    Er fragt jedes Mal mindestens fünf Mal nach, um auch ja alles richtig zu machen.
    Wenn der Lehrer eine Frage stellt, schauen alle auf den Boden und hoffen, ja nicht aufgerufen zu werden.

  3. under any circumstances, for (absolute) certain (often with the implication of pettiness, insecurity or overblown fear regarding the issue one wants certainty on) had better; used to reinforce an imperative or other order with an implied threat, especially by an authority figure.

    informal · modal · particle
    Komm ja nicht zu spät nach Hause!
Where this word comes from

From Middle High German ja, from Old High German ja, jā (“yes”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes”). Cognate with Yiddish יאָ (yo).

intj[jäː][ʝäː][jɑː]Austrian, German[jɒ~jɔ]

  1. yes; yea; yeah; aye

    modal · particle
    Willst du das? Ja.
    Aber ja!
Where this word comes from

From Middle High German ja, from Old High German ja, jā (“yes”), from Proto-Germanic *ja (“yes”). Cognate with Yiddish יאָ (yo).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.