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  What it means

  Literally “long ago.” The standard Polish way to begin a story set in the past — the equivalent of “once upon a time” or “a long time ago.” Also used in everyday speech for anything that happened in the distant past.

  Vocabulary

  • dawno — long ago / a long time ago
  • temu — ago (postposition)

  Grammar note

  'Temu' is a postposition used with time expressions to mean 'ago' — it follows the time word rather than preceding it.

  Cultural context

  The opening of countless Polish fairy tales and stories. 'Dawno, dawno temu' (the doubled form) is the classic fairy-tale opener.

  Beginner

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