Question! how do I say once upon a time there was?

Question

How do I say once upon a time there was...? so far I have Había una vez

Answer 1

Érase una vez...

Había una vez...

Érase una vez is only for literature right, like if I said "You know, once upon a time I had this dog that......." it would be odd to use "Érase una vez" right? Gracias - jeezzle, May 25, 2011

"Érase una vez..." is an ancient formula, but people still use it to tell stories to their little children. - lazarus1907, May 25, 2011

Answer 2

Había una vez hubo...

Answer 3

I have been reading Harrison's Spanish Reader (The Three Bears, The Dissatisfied Man, etc.) and each story starts differently. "At one time there was", "Long since past" (I had a hard time with that one) and something like "In a certain place there happened ..." or "there was". I think it can be expressed variously, if you want a "fairy tale" tone then "Una vez había..." or "Había una vez ..." (as lazarus1907 says) are popular.