once

onceconjunction

American /wʌns/ British /wʌns/ Once starts with a w sound and rhymes with dunce: WUNSS. It sounds like one with an s added.

very commondefining vocabulary

as soon as; from the moment that
Once says that one thing happens and then the other follows from it or depends on it. In a clause about the future, once takes the present tense or the present perfect, not will.
- Once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget.
- I'll call you once I get home.
- Once everyone has arrived, we can start. (present perfect for the future)
- The job was easy once I understood what to do.
Synonyms when
Compare after (after only gives the order of two events; once adds that the second follows from the first)
For translators (sense 1)
Meaning across languages Do not confuse this use with once meaning one time, which is an adverb. As a conjunction, once joins two clauses and is often translated with a word meaning as soon as or when.
Grammar trap In a clause about the future, once takes the present tense or the present perfect: once you finish or once you have finished, not once you will finish.

Common mistakes

Once you will see it, you will understand. Once you see it, you will understand.
A clause with once about the future uses the present tense, not will.

See also once (meaning one time or at some time in the past (I met her once))

For translators

Pronunciation trap Once begins with a w sound although the spelling starts with o, like one: WUNSS.

onceconjunction

For translators (sense 1)

Common mistakes

For translators