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Abbreviations for Years: How to Use BC, AD, BCE & CE Correctly

November 5, 2015

Historically speaking…

When even L1s get a certain aspect of English mixed up, you can bet it’s tricky for English language learners to master. This is the case with writing and saying years. Why do we have more than one word to represent an era? Why don’t they have the same position in a sentence? How do we punctuate and capitalize these abbreviations? Let’s clear things up for our students (and possibly for ourselves).

1. Meaning

  • BC stands for “Before Christ” and represents the years before Christ was born.
  • AD stands for “Anno Domini,” which is Latin for “the year of our Lord,” and represents the years after Christ was born.
  • BCE stands for “Before Common Era,” “Before Christian Era,” or “Before Current Era” and represents the time before the last 2015 years (at the time this was written).
  • CE stands for “Common Era,” “Christian Era,” or “Current Era” and represents years 1–2015 (at the time this was written).

BC and BCE represent the same time frame, but with BCE, the religious aspect is removed. The same goes for AD and CE (the religious aspect is removed with CE).

2. Position

  • 300 BC
  • AD 2015
  • 300 BCE
  • 2015 CE

BC, BCE, and CE come after the year. Write or say 300 BC or 300 before Christ, 300 BCE or 300 before common era, and 2015 CE or 2015 common era. However, AD comes before the year, so write or say AD 2015 or anno Domini 2015. This is because anno Domini is Latin for the year of our Lord, and we always say the year of our Lord before the year (so the year of our Lord 2015).

Is 2015 AD ever correct? Many people (myself included) were taught that AD stood for after death (after the death of Christ). Some people do write or say AD after the year, but as this is technically incorrect, it is far better to write or say AD 2015.

3. Punctuation & Capitalization

Is it BC or B.C.? BCE or B.C.E.? Well, it depends on which style guide or dictionary you follow. Merriam‑Webster Dictionary (American English) lists these entries with capital letters and no periods/full stops (e.g., BC), but notes that they are often punctuated and/or written in small capitals (e.g., B.C.). Oxford Dictionary (British English) and Oxford Canadian Dictionary (Canadian English) also list these entries with capital letters and no periods/full stops (e.g., BC) and notes they are often written in small capitals, but they don’t list periods/full stops as common usage.

A popular American style guide, The Chicago Manual of Style, has these entries in capital letters with no periods/full stops (e.g., BC). This is consistent with many other types of abbreviations that they list (e.g., US, UK, WA, etc.). In my role as an editor, I’ve noticed that there is definitely a movement away from unnecessary punctuation.

Practice

Show your students examples of these dates in a lesson and then go over the explanation above. Our Famous Places lesson on Nazca Lines includes BC and AD in the first paragraph of the reading. 

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Comments (79)

Shuchita (Guest)

Thanks a lot...It helped...:-)

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    I'm happy to hear that!

    Prabha (Guest)

    Really it's worth full information thank you

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks, Prabha!

    Amudha (Guest)

    Superb
    Good clarity

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Great! Thanks for commenting, Amudha.

    Ravi Kumar(Guest)

    Thank you so much for your great explain, the way of giving example is amazing :)

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Happy to hear it! Thanks, Ravi.

    Cheryl Crawford(Guest)

    This information helped me thank you

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    I'm glad to hear that, Cheryl!

    Farid (Guest)

    I have seen mostly used in Religion historical book... anyway even I didn't know about it. But now I know!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Glad to hear it!

    Satish jain(Guest)

    At last understood this! Thanks for explaining.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Satish!

    Grace (Guest)

    Clear, concise and helpful information, thank you!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Grace! Thanks for commenting.

    Barbara Hayes(Guest)

    So many questions answered - Thank You!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    My pleasure, Barbara.

    Johnson ayariga(Guest)

    All questions had answered

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Great to hear!

    priyanshu (Guest)

    understood at once....! thnks human

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome! No bots here! :)

    Tanya (Guest)

    Best explanation, thus far. Thank you.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks for your comment, Tanya! Nice name too. ;)

    Egbaji Austin(Guest)

    Very clear now, thanks..But how do I get your app? I'm in Nigeria.

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Egbaji, you can use this link to subscribe to our site anywhere in the world: https://ellii.com/sign_up

    Our site is mobile-friendly, but we also have an app coming out in March 2018. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

    Liwell (Guest)

    Well Elaborate,thank you

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks, Liwell.

    Lennart (Guest)

    Great explanation, thanks! I have a question though: If you need to say 'He was born in the 900s AD', how would you write that correctly? It doesn't feels right to write 'He was born in the AD 900s'.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Lennart,

    That is an excellent question. Unfortunately, CMOS doesn't provide an example of this. My guess is that we would say 'AD 900s' (and Google has many references to it used this way), but I would suggest dropping the 'AD' and just say 'He was born in the 900s.' Hopefully it would be clear from the context (where you could include a specific date with AD). Another option is to style it 'in the tenth century AD' but, even then, CMOS recommends dropping the 'AD.' Hope that helps!

    Hrushikesh (Guest)

    While writing a history text do I have to use AD for all the dates in entire document ?

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    That depends on the style guide you're following. If you're writing for a university, they'll have a style manual or house style sheet that writers should follow, such as APA format or MLA format. Publishers often follow the Chicago Manual of Style. If you're writing on your own, you can make your own rules somewhat (as long as they're logical and, especially, consistent). In general, unless you're going back and forth between AD and BC/BCE, I'd say you'd only need to say AD once or twice and the rest would be clear from the context.

    Komal (Guest)

    I have a problem, I don't know how many years AD, BC and BCE stands for? If I would say this happened in 209 BC, so how many years it means from now?

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    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Komal,

    I found this information on the sciencing.com site (https://sciencing.com/calculate-years-across-bc-ad-8433373.html):

    Calculating Years Across B.C. and A.D.
    'If you have a math problem that requires you to calculate years across B.C. and A.D., it's crucial to adjust for the fact that there was no year 0. For example, if you need to work out how many years are between January 1, 200 B.C. to January 1, A.D. 700 you add the BC and AD numbers. The calculation is 700 + 200, which equals 900 years. However, you still have to adjust for the absence of year 0. You do this by removing 1 from your answer, so 900 minus 1 is 899.'

    According to these rules, 206 + 2018 = 2224 - 1 = 2223.

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    I just noticed I used the wrong start date in my calculations. It should be: 209 + 2018 = 2227 – 1 = 2226.

    Len (Guest)

    In UK writing should it be in Italics or roman?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Len,

    I'm not that familiar with UK style choices, but I do have a copy of The New Oxford Style Manual on my desk and have looked it up for you. They advise writing BC, AD, BCE, and CE in small caps with no periods/points. BC, BCE, and CE follow the date and AD precedes it, as advised above. As for italics, they say, 'Small capitals are used for specifying eras. In an italic context they may be set in italics; otherwise, small capitals are generally set in roman type.'

    lluis (Guest)

    Thank you for your explanation. I have a doubt regarding when is appropriate to use these abbreviations and when not?
    I mean, if we are writing about the date a building that was built in the twentieth century we would never use them. If we are writing about the date a building that was built in the Roman Empire we would surely use them. But, what if we are writing about the date a building built in the Reinassance. Should we use them or not?
    I would like to write: 'The domes of the Pantheon in Rome (118-126), Hagia Sophia (532-537) and Santa Maria del Fiore (1296-1436) are well-known historical examples'
    but I do not know if I need such abbreviations or not. What would you recommend me?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Iluis,

    It's really up to you whether you want to include dates or not. It could depend on the context (an architectural magazine, for example, might include dates even for modern buildings), but generally speaking, you're correct that we'd usually use them for historical buildings.

    I'd consider the buildings in your example historical, and I think it sounds natural to include the dates. I'd suggest including the word 'built' in the first example, but I don't think you'd need to say AD for each one if the context was clear. You could also choose to include AD only for the first one if the context wasn't clear. Note that en dashes, not hyphens, are preferred when writing dates.

    E.g., 'The domes of the Pantheon in Rome (built AD 118–126), Hagia Sophia (532–537) and Santa Maria del Fiore (1296–1436) are well-known historical examples.”

    Lee Ginn(Guest)

    Hello,
    I’m reading a book titled A History - China by John Keay. There’s a reference (r. c. 977-c.957 BC). What does the small r. Stand for? Never seen this before.
    Thank you, Lee

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Lee,

    Good question! I haven't seen 'r.' used like that before either. My colleague looked up the actual book for context and saw that the 'r.' was mentioned when referring to emperors and dynasties. The Chicago Manual of Style lists the possible meanings of 'r.' as 'right; recto; reigned' so we're pretty sure that 'r. c.' means 'reigned around [those dates].' Hope that helps!

    Bonnie Headley(Guest)

    I am doing genealogy and a person was born in 28 BCE. I can't figure it out. Can you help? Thanks Bonney

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi, Bonnie. That's 28 Before Common/Christian/Current Era, so 2018 + 28 means that person was born 2046 years ago.

    Kelvin Greene(Guest)

    Hello Tanya Trusla. Very good article and very good answers to comments. But that website led you wrong about counting years across eras in your answer to Komal on Mar 07, 2018 at 6:23 pm.

    We know there was a year known as 1BC and a year known as AD1, but there wasn't a year known as 0 between them right?

    However, from January 1, 1BC to December 31, AD1 is 2 years, not 1 year, right?

    So, if we are not using any particular months when giving dates, and we say, for instance: 'He reigned from 7BC to AD8', that will be assuming that his reign could have been from anytime in 7BC and ended anytime in 8AD right?

    Sorry, I know this is redundant, but to clarify, his reign begin and ended any time between January 1, 7BC to December 31, AD8 right?

    And if we ONLY give the BC year and the AD year we have to allow for the whole year of each date given.

    So from 7BC to AD8 would simply be 7 + 8 =15 total years and you do not subtract a year.

    The dates in our example include the years:

    7BC, 6BC, 5BC, 4BC, 3BC, 2BC, 1BC, AD1, AD2, AD3, AD4, AD5, AD6, AD7, AD8.

    Count them, it is 15 years.

    So, any calculations of dates when ONLY the years are given, without months, across the two eras is simply added together to calculate the total number of years.

    I.e.:
    1000BC - AD200 is a total of 1200 years because 1000 + 200 = 1200. And no, 1 year should not be subtracted, because the dates, as given, include the whole year of 1000BC and the whole year of AD200.

    Not having a year 0 between them doesn't mean you subtract a year.

    However, just to be clear. If months are given and the dates were, for instance:

    'He reigned from March 3, 7BC to March 12, AD8'.

    This particular calculation would require 1 year to be subtracted. That would be exactly 14 years, not 15, because we know the months and they are the same.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Kelvin,

    Thanks for taking the time to explain all this! You almost made my head explode (math is not my strong suit), but I now see what you're saying. It makes sense that we would count it differently if the months indicated a one-year span versus two whole, separate years. I hope that anyone looking on how to calculate the number of years with a BC–AD range will read the great advice in your post!

    Omm A.(Member)

    Thanks for the knowledge and a helpful information.

    Reply to Comment

    Lei Kayanuma(Author)

    Thanks for your comment, Omm. We're happy to hear that!

    Omm A.(Member)

    Thanks for this knowledgeable information.

    Let's hope for the best
    Thank you

    Reply to Comment

    Zuraida Aman(Guest)

    I really appreciate a clear explanation like this. Read numerous reading and never actually understood before. Thank you, Tanya! 😊

    Reply to Comment

    Lei Kayanuma(Author)

    Hello, Zuraida! Thanks for your comment. I'll pass it on to Tanya!

    Arvind Paranjpye(Guest)

    Thanks for this nice article. I came across this when I was searching for the meaning of c. typed before the year of birth or death of a person, for example, in Wikipedia article one finds Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570 – c. 495 BC), what c. stand for here?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Arvind, great question. With dates, "c." stands for "circa" (which is Latin for "around" or "about"). So c. 570–c. 495 BC means around 570 to around 496 BC. People use "c." when they're not sure of the exact dates, so it's common to see with very old dates since it's hard to be 100% sure in those cases.

    Ziphakamise N.(Member)

    Thank you

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome!

    Johnnie Suter(Guest)

    I learned about BC and AD. In grammar school in the late 50s. I wonder if they still teach this in early school years. Thank you for your explanation of CE and BCE.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Johnnie! I wonder the same thing.

    Lori Loud(Guest)

    I don’t know if 2022 is an AD or a BCE year.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Lori, you could write it both of these ways: AD 2022 or 2022 CE.

    Shelia Kay Fillingane(Guest)

    I’m 63 years old an was never taught the true meaning of BC & AD. Thank you so much for putting it so plainly that even an old girl can understand. Now if anyone ask I can feel a little smarter and explain to them what it means. Thanks again…!!!!! God bless and keep you always …!!!!

    Reply to Comment

    Tara Benwell(Author)

    We are always learning new things!

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    What a lovely message, Shelia! Thanks so much for your kind words.

    Małgorzata Mileszczyk(Guest)

    Oxford English Dictionary list of abbreviations.
    https://public.oed.com/how-to-use-the-oed/abbreviations/#b
    periods included.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Malgorzata, unfortunately dictionaries and style guides don't always agree! As we're a company based in Canada, we follow the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and The Chicago Manual of Style, neither of which include periods in their main entries for these terms. Thank you for pointing out that in British English, using periods for these terms would be more common.

    Dan O.(Member)

    This article broke it down atomically. Great Job Tanya❤

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks so much, Dan!

    Malcolm B.(Member)

    Thanks, extremely useful information.
    However, when describing American, British and Canadian English, you explain punctuation within AD, BC, BCE and CE, describing the varied use of ‘periods’. Here in the UK, owing to the alternative meaning of ‘period’, we us ‘full stop’.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks so much for pointing that out, Malcolm! I'll add that in.

    Aydin Shiri(Guest)

    Perfect ✓

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks, Aydin!

    diane powell(Guest)

    Thank you, ms Tanya. You are appreciated! Stay safe and well 😀

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Thanks for this lovely message, Diane!

    Jose Baires(Guest)

    Very interesting data! Thanks.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    I'm glad you thought so, Jose!

    joe (Guest)

    Im looking at a time line that has c.e. c. and b. before a year, what does the b stand for?

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    Hi Joe, I can't find a definitive answer online for you. I thought I'd seen "b." before a year that meant "before," but I can't be certain, unfortunately.

    Benjamin O.(Member)

    Thanks for explaining. I was always wondering what each stood for.

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    It was my pleasure, Benjamin.

    Lubaba Tasnim(Guest)

    Thank you for Helpful explanation of these abbreviations!

    Reply to Comment

    Tanya Trusler(Author)

    You're welcome, Lubaba! Glad it was a helpful post.

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