SOME "ENCHANTED" GRAMMAR!

This evening we're going to look at the song I used in Monday's post again as the lyrics contain three grammar points that I would like to explain:

Some Enchanted Evening - Lyrics

Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger,
You may see a stranger across a crowded room,
And somehow you know, you know even then,
That somehow you'll see her again and again.
Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing,
You may hear her laughing across a crowded room,
And night after night, as strange as it seems,
The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams.
Who can explain it, who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try.
Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love,
When you hear her call you across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side and make her your own,
Or all through your life you may dream all alone.
Once you have found her, never let her go,
Once you have found her, never let her go.


- Song by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II


1.  hear her laughing

She will be in the middle of the action of laughing and you will hear this.

    hear her call

You will hear her call from the beginning through to the end of her action.

We often use these structures with the verbs see and hear:

I saw him walking

- He was already walking when I saw him.

I saw him walk

- I saw the whole action.

2.  When you find

     When you hear

This is the present simple after when to express a future action:

I'll do it when I arrive.

When I arrive means I will arrive some time in the future [not "quando arriverò" as in Italian].

3.  Once you have found her

Once here means immediately after or as soon as and we usually use it in this sense with a perfect tense.  In the song and in the examples below the present perfect is used, even though we are referring to future time:

Once you've done your homework, you can go out.

Once you've read these grammar tips, listen to the song again!