ya me parecía
/ʝa me paɾeθia/from spelling rules
The English phrase "I thought so" is translated into Spanish as ya me parecía.
This phrase is used when a piece of news or a realization confirms a suspicion you already had.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase literally translates to "it already seemed to me".
Which one should you use?
While pensé eso would be a literal translation of "I thought that", ya me parecía is the idiomatic way to express that a situation matches a previous impression.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase uses the imperfect tense parecía to describe a continuous state of suspicion or impression that existed prior to the confirmation.
How do you pronounce it?
/ʝa me paɾeθia/
Did you know?
- While ya me parecía is used for suspicions, Spanish has a separate concept called 'corazonada', which describes the 'hunch' or 'gut feeling' that leads a person to say this phrase.
- The word ya is one of the most versatile words in Spanish, functioning as a confirmation 'yes', a command 'enough', and a marker of time 'already'.
- The word ya in this phrase shares an ancestor with the French word 'déjà' in 'déjà vu', both coming from the Latin 'iam'.
Examples in context
- Supongo que no podrás venir a la reunión. − Eso era lo que pensaba.I suppose you won't be able to come to the meeting. − That's what I thought.
- Me temo que tendrás que cancelar tu vuelo. − La verdad es que lo sospechaba.I'm afraid you'll have to cancel your flight. − The truth is I suspected it.
- No creo que venga a la fiesta. − Pensé que sí.I don't think he'll come to the party. − I thought so.
- Ya me parecía.I thought so.
- Ya me parecía que algo iba mal.I thought something was going wrong.
- Ya me parecía que no vendría.I thought he wouldn't come.
Example conversation
Lucía and Mateo are talking about a delayed bus.
- LucíaEl autobús va con mucho retraso.The bus is very late.
- MateoYa me parecía, hay mucho tráfico.I thought so, there is a lot of traffic.
- LucíaSeguro que llegaremos tarde.I am sure we will arrive late.
- MateoEs muy probable.It is very likely.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries me, ya, CC BY-SA 4.0.
