Once upon a time

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"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase that has been used for many hundreds^{[citation needed]} of years in storytelling in the English language. Conversely, these stories often then end with "... and they all lived happily ever after". These are examples of the narrative form, and occur most frequently in the narratives produced by children aged between 6 and 8. ^[1]

It is particularly apparent in fairytales for younger children, where it is almost always the opening line of a tale. It was commonly used in the original translations of the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, or the Brothers Grimm.

The phrase is also frequently used in oral storytelling, such as retellings of myths, fables, and folklore.

[edit] Other languages

Equivalent phrases are also used in many other languages to begin a fable or tale:

Algerian Arabic: Hajitek ma jitek 'I've told you what's coming'
Classical Arabic: kân yâ mâ kân fî qadîmi zzamân wsalifî al`aSri wal'awân...(كان يامكان،في قديم الزمان، وسالف العصر والأوان) 'There was, oh what there was (or there wasn't) in the oldest of days and ages and times...'
Catalan: Hi havia/això era una vegada 'There was a time...'Temps era temps... 'Time was time...'
Croatian: Jednom davno... 'Once, a long time ago...' Common ending: ... i živjeli su sretno to kraja života '...and they lived happily till the end of (their) life
Czech: Bylo nebylo,... 'There was, there was not...'
Ekoti (Mozambique, Bantu): Rakú z'éepo waarí-vó oswááipu nwúlw'eéne saána 'Once upon a time, there was a truly great friendship...'.
Danish: Der var engang... or Engang for længe siden... 'There was, once...' or 'Once a long time ago...', respectively.
Dutch: Er was eens... 'Once there was...'
Finnish: Olipa kerran... 'Once there was...'
French: Il était une fois 'There was, once... ' Common ending: ... et se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants ' ... and they married, and had lots of children'

German: Es war einmal... 'Once there was...' Common ending: und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute 'and if they have not died, they are still alive today'
Georgian: "Iko da ara iko ra, iko..." 'There was, and there was not, there was...'
Goemai (Nigeria, West Chadic): Tamtis noe lat/ dok ba muaan yi wa 'My tale has finished, (it) has returned to go (and) come home.'
Greek: Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό... 'Once, in another time...' Common ending: Κι έζησαν αυτοί καλά κι εμείς καλύτερα 'And they lived well, and we [lived] better'
Hebrew: Hayo hayah pa'am... (היו היה פעם) 'Once there was a time...'
Hindi किसी ज़माने में ('In one era, ...') or बहुत पुरानी बात है ('It's an old story, ...')
Hungarian: Egyszer volt, hol nem volt, volt egyszer egy... 'Once there was, where there wasn't, there was a...'
Indonesian: Pada suatu hari... 'One day...'
Iraq (Kenia, Cushitic) tokaro-yâ 'once upon a time (standard opening phrase); aa fák 'it is finished' (common end to a story).
- In oral literature, phrases like "I remember something that our father told me and that is this:" are common (Iraqw: Kar aníng te-'ée' to-ká a inhláw ar aakó doo-rén ni alki'-a i tí). Endings are often like "Such is the story that our father told us" (Iraqw: a-n ti'itá-r akóo doo-rén na alki'íit).
Irish: Fadó, fadó, fadó a bhí an (agus bhí rí in nGaillimh) 'A long, long. long time ago it was (and there was a king in Galway.)
Italian: C'era una volta... 'There was a time...'
Japanese: Mukashi mukashi (昔昔, 昔々, むかしむかし). 'A long time ago...'
Korean: Yet-nal Yet-jeok-e... (옛날옛적에...). 'Once upon a time...'
Latvian: Reiz sen senos laikos... 'Once long ago in times long gone'
Mandarin (Chinese): 很久，很久以前 'Long, long time ago...'
Norwegian: Det var en gang... 'There was, once...'
Pashto: "داسي کار وو چي" (Daasi kaar wo che) or "داسي چل وو چي" (Daasi chal wo che). 'There was this work that...'
Polish: Dawno, dawno temu... 'Long, long time ago...'
Portuguese: Era uma vez... 'There was, once...'
Russian: Жил был (zhil bwil) "There lived and was..." ['жила была (Zhila bwila)' if a female character is introduced in the beginning; 'жили были (zhili bwili)' if multiple characters]
Sanskrit Pūrākāle (पुराकाले) 'In the ancient time...', Kadājit (कदाचित्) 'Once upon a time'/'At any time'
Spanish: Érase/Había una vez... 'There was, once...' Traditional ending: Y vivieron felices y comieron perdices 'and they lived happily and ate partridge.'
Swedish: Det var en gång... ("There was, once...") Common ending ... och så levde de lyckliga i alla sina dagar. ("... and then they lived happily in all their days")
Tagalog: Noong unang panahon... 'At the first time (a long time ago)...'