Calendar Eras

French calendar eras
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Ères calendaires

As in English, years in French can be differentiated with one of two common notation systems.

1) Common Era

ère commune
de notre ère
de l’ère actuelle
de l’ère chrétienne		 Common Era
Current Era
Christian Era
EC
è.c.		 CE
     vs  
avant l’ère commune
avant notre ère
avant l’ère chrétienne		 Before Common Era
Before Current Era
Before Christian Era
AEC
av. è. c.		 BCE

2) Anno Domini

après Jésus-Christ anno Domini*
apr. J-C AD
     vs  
avant Jésus-Christ before Christ
av. J-C BC

* Not "after death." Anno Domini is Latin for "In the year of the Lord."

Par exemple…

C’était en 1575 EC.
C’était en 1575 apr. J-C.		 It was in 1575 CE.
It was in 1575 AD.
Il est né en 199 AEC.
Il est né en 199 av. J-C.		 He was born in 199 BCE.
He was born in 199 BC.

 An explanation of what these terms actually mean and why Common Era has mostly replaced Anno Domini is beyond the scope of this French vocabulary lesson. For more info, try one of these sites:

 Related lessons

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French calendar eras

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