I have an old Spanish
dictionary. It is overall a good dictionary, and though it was printed in 1981, it is very
useful to me. But there is at least one difference between this book and reality.
It claims there is a "typical adjective" of Mexico,
which people use all the time: "mero." This word means "mere," and I
have heard it used in this meaning, but not very often. The book says Mexicans use mero to
mean pretty much everything, such as "real," "actual," "the
truth," "very," "just," "same," "the boss,"
"good," "strong," "exactly," "powerful,"
"total," and "many other things." Well, not in Querétaro. Glad I
didn't ever try to use it.
But there is a word Mexicans, in Querétaro at least, use all the
time. That word is "ya." According to a dictionary, ya means
"already." As in "Ya fui a la tienda" (I already went to the store).
But it seems to be used for almost anything, often standing alone as a complete sentence.
Here are the usages I'm certain of:
1. already
2. I'm finished; I'm ready; It's ready.
3. Are you ready? ("¿Ya?")
4. Pay attention.
5. Because ("Va bien ya lo es facil"; "It goes well because it's
easy").
6. I've already done that; I will do that.
7. Take it.
8. I understand; I get it.
9. Please ("Digame ya," literally, "Tell me, already").
10. Let's go (like "Vamanos").
11. Can I go now? ("¿Ya?")
12. Looks good; You have finished.
13. I know him/it ("Lo ya," literally "him/it already").
14. They are out of it ("Ya no").
15. I don't want it ("Ya no.").
16. No thanks (Ya no").
17. I forgot ("Ya no sé," literally "Already I don't know").
18. She left ("Ya la fue," literally "Already she's gone").
19. Although ("ya que").
20. Of course ("Ya se ve," literally "I already see it").
21. I'm back ("Ya regrese," literally "Already I've returned").
Of course, many of these make perfect sense in English. We could
use "already" in these sentences if we wanted. My point is that we simply don't.
Something about the idea (or maybe the sound) is especially appealing to Mexicans.
It can also be inserted into almost any sentence, even when it is
doesn't seem to add anything: "Despues cena, ya no teneré hambre" ("After
dinner, I won't be hungry"); "Ya no sirve" ("It doesn't work").
Just stick "already" wherever you think it fits, because I have no
idea.
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