once

once

"Once" means "eleven" in English.

In this sentence, 'once' is used as a numeral, specifically the number eleven.

Yo tenía once años cuando aprendí a nadar.

I was eleven years old when I learned to swim.

Here, 'once' again functions as a numeral, describing a time quantity — eleven minutes.

Me atraganté justo once minutos después de empezar a comer.

I choked exactly eleven minutes after starting to eat.

In this example, 'once' is used to denote the time (11 o'clock) in hours.

Al entrar, vi que el reloj marcaba las once.

Upon entering, I saw the clock striking eleven.