Meaning

2 senses

  1. (not comparable)A long time ago; at some time in the past (a traditional beginning of children's stories, especially fairy tales).

    Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful princess.

    es war einmal

    жи́ли-бы́лиžíli-býli, давны́м-давно́davným-davnó, в тридевя́том ца́рстве, в тридеся́том госуда́рствеv tridevjátom cárstve, v tridesjátom gosudárstve

    жи́ли-були́žýly-bulý, давни́м-давно́davným-davnó

  2. (not comparable)Formerly.

Examples

87 sentences

  1. Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess.

    ruДавным-давно жила одна прекрасная принцесса. — Hellerick

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. There was once a time when I could not trust others.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood.

    Жив та був кусок деревини. — El_lena

    ruЖил-был кусок дерева. — odexed

    deEs war einmal ein Stück Holz. — raggione

    Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. Once upon a time there was an ugly little girl.

    Жила-була потворна дівчинка. — deniko

    ruЖила-была маленькая страшненькая девочка. — amanshi

    deEs war einmal ein hässliches kleines Mädchen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    Adelpa · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. Once upon a time, there lived a poor man and a rich woman.

    Колись, давно-давно жили бідний чоловік і багата жінка. — User55521

    ruКогда-то давным-давно жили бедный мужчина и богатая женщина. — Selena777

    deEs waren einmal ein armer, alter Mann und eine reiche Frau. — jakov

    CM · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · A2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
traditional beginning of children’s stories, especially fairy tales:
Русский
By meaning 1
traditional beginning of children’s stories, especially fairy tales:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
traditional beginning of children’s stories, especially fairy tales:

Synonyms

2 synonyms
a long time ago:anciently
way back

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
onboardonceA1oncologistoncomingoneA1

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

once upon a time — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto