Una vez que terminé, llamé.

Once I finished, I called.

Breakdown of Una vez que terminé, llamé.

• terminar: to finish
• llamar: to call
• una vez que: once

Questions & Answers about Una vez que terminé, llamé.

What does una vez que mean, and how is it used?

Una vez que means once or once that / after in the sense of as soon as something has happened.

In this sentence, Una vez que terminé, llamé means Once I finished, I called.

It introduces a clause that sets up the first action:

• Una vez que terminé = once I finished

Then the main clause gives the next action:

• llamé = I called

It is a very common way to connect two actions in time.

Why are terminé and llamé in the preterite?

They are in the preterite because both actions are seen as completed events in the past.

• terminé = I finished
• llamé = I called

The sentence describes a sequence:

1. I finished
2. I called

Since both happened and are over, Spanish uses the preterite.

Why isn’t it termine instead of terminé?