How do you say "Once Upon A Time.." in Spanish?

Question

I am referring to the beginning of a fairytale and not necessarily the title of the ABC television show.

Answer 1

Hello Pizzabagel,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

I will give you a contextualised answer to show you how this expression is used!:

Había una vez una princesa que vivía en un gran castillo en España.

= Once upon a time there was a princess who lived in a big castle in Spain. or...

= Once upon a time there lived a princess in a big castle in Spain

o. ...

= Érase una vez un caballo que vivía en un gran prado pero se sentía muy triste y muy solo porque vivía solo...¡y no tenía ningunos amigos! :(

Once upon a time there was (or lived) a horse in a big field but he felt very sad and lonely because he lived alone...and he didn't have any friends! :(

I hope this shows you/gives you some idea how the Spanish people use this expression!

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

Great answer Feliz - Daniela2041, Apr 18, 2015

Thank you very much, Daniela - FELIZ77, Apr 18, 2015

Pizza Bagel, Thank you very much for choosing my post as best answer :) - FELIZ77, Apr 22, 2015

Answer 2

Érase una vez....

Answer 3

"Hace mucho tiempo atrás..." o "Hace mucho tiempo..."

Answer 4

había una vez

Answer 5

fuese una vez

habia una vez

erase una vez

I have never heard of fuese used in this way,Rey ;) - FELIZ77, Apr 18, 2015

Answer 6

I understand "Había una vez" is best , or better even ,

but why not -"Una vez un tiempo"?

Ray, I think it would be too literal! Besides, we are not talking about time in a generic sense: tiempo, nor hours: horas , but an unspecified occasion: una vez - FELIZ77, Apr 19, 2015

You are trying to logically translate from English to Spanish. I would recommend that you start with looking at the way the Spanish natives express the same idea in Spanish and then work back into English! :) - FELIZ77, Apr 19, 2015