"Una vez que"?

Question

I read the translation of a text from English to Spanish that used "una vez que" for "once" followed by a condition. I think the entire sentence was along the lines of "Once the book is opened..." translated to "Una vez que el libro es abierto..."

Is this correct? I think "cuando..." is the obvious choice for "once...", but what do you think?

Answer 1

You are correct in that "una vez que" is translated as "once .. (such and such occurs or occured). For example "once she arrived we left" - "Una vez que ella llegó nos fuimos". You are also correct that it basically means "when". Probably for us who are fascinated by language, we would analyze that "una vez que" or "once..." would be used when pointing out a sequence of events.

Buena pregunta!

I guess it just seemed so idiomatic that it couldn't translate so literally. Thanks! - lhm27, Jan 13, 2010