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• ya
  ya

  pronoun

  you.
• yā
  yā

  noun

  the 28th letter of the Arabic alphabet.
• YA
  YA

  abbreviation

  young adult.

ya

¹ American  

[yuh] / yə /

pronoun

Informal.

1. you.

   Give me a hand, will ya?

2. your.

   Where's ya brother?

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ya ² American  

[yah] / yɑ /

interjection

Informal.

1. a variant of yeah.

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yā ³ American  

[yah] / yɑ /

noun

1. the 28th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

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YA ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. young adult.

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Etymology

Origin of ya¹

First recorded in 1820–25; a phonetic spelling representing the pronunciation of you and your in continuous rapid speech

Origin of yā³

From Arabic

Example Sentences

YA fiction is still thriving but is overwhelmingly the domain of adult women.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

You’re kind of distinguishing her from what we now think of as YA, “Young Adult.”

From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026

There was no category in the bookstore in 1970 for YA.

From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026

Representation in these shows, however, is still far from perfect, said Nicholas Rickards, a doctoral candidate at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, whose research focuses on YA adaptations.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

In the YA section, some kids from school were playing on the computers, and they pointed and giggled when they saw Jonah being paraded around, his arm trapped in the librarian’s grip.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix