Situer une date dans l’histoire
1 · A year takes en
Write en 1789, with no article before the year. French does not put a comma inside a four-digit year. A full day-and-month date uses le.
Le document date de 1789 ; la copie a été réalisée en 1792.The document dates from 1789; the copy was made in 1792.
2 · A century is an ordinal
XIXe siècle is read dix-neuvième siècle. XXe is twentieth, XXIe twenty-first. The first is written Ier siècle and read premier siècle.
Ce texte a été écrit au XIXe siècle.This text was written in the nineteenth century.
3 · Check the century boundary
In Common Era dating, the nineteenth century runs from 1801 to 1900; the twentieth from 1901 to 2000. The year 1900 therefore belongs to the nineteenth century.
L’année 2001 marque le début du XXIe siècle.The year 2001 marks the start of the twenty-first century.
4 · A decade uses les années
Les années 1920 covers 1920–1929. Use all four digits when the century could be unclear. Les années vingt is useful when the surrounding text already identifies the century.
Ces lettres datent des années 1920.These letters date from the 1920s.
5 · Au, du and à la fin du
Use au to locate something in a century, du after dater, and à la fin du for its end. Compare these with dans les années and des années for decades.
Cette lettre date de la fin du XVIIIe siècle.This letter dates from the end of the eighteenth century.
6 · Keep the era visible
Write avant notre ère for BCE and de notre ère for CE. You may also read av. J.-C. and apr. J.-C.. Copy the era when converting a date into a century.
L’inscription date du IIe siècle avant notre ère.The inscription dates from the second century BCE.
7 · Earlier BCE dates have larger year numbers
300 BCE comes before 200 BCE. The second century BCE covers 200–101 BCE. For a range, de… à… keeps the start and end explicit.
La période étudiée va de 200 à 101 avant notre ère.The period studied runs from 200 to 101 BCE.