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Questions & Answers about Já confirmaste a reserva?
Does já have to go at the beginning of the question?
Placing já at the beginning of the sentence is the most natural and common word order in Portuguese when asking if something has happened yet. You could technically put it at the end (Confirmaste a reserva já?), but it sounds much less natural.
In English I might ask "Have you confirmed the reservation yet?". Why doesn't Portuguese use a "have" verb here?
To ask if an action has been completed, European Portuguese simply uses já followed by the simple past tense (Pretérito Perfeito Simples). You do not need a complex "have done" tense here; já confirmaste naturally translates to "have you confirmed" or "did you confirm".
Does já mean "already" or "yet" in this sentence?
It means both! In Portuguese questions, já does the job of both English words. Depending on how you phrase it in English, this sentence translates perfectly as either "Did you confirm the reservation already?" or "Have you confirmed the reservation yet?".