HSK 5 · Time

公元 gōngyuán “CE (Common Era)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 公元 means

  1. CE (Common Era)
  2. Christian Era
  3. AD (Anno Domini)

How to say 公元

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale公gōng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale元yuán2nd tone, rising

公元 in a sentence

  1. 很多国家都用公元纪年。

    Hěn duō guójiā dōu yòng gōngyuán jìnián.

    Many countries count years in the Common Era.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这座古桥建于公元十世纪。

    Zhè zuò gǔ qiáo jiàn yú gōngyuán shí shìjì.

    This old bridge was built in the tenth century CE.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 公元 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 公 (gōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
公gōngpublic
  • 八eight · bā
  • 厶private · sī

Memory aidAn old explanation: share out 八 what is private 厶, and it becomes public.

The character 元 (yuán) with each of its parts in a different colour
元yuáncurrency unit
  • 二two · èr
  • 儿legs · ér

Memory aidA person 儿 with the head marked on top 二: the head, the first. Today it is also China’s main unit of money.

How to write 公元

公 4 strokes · 元 4 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

公元 (gōngyuán) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 公元 (gōngyuán). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 公元

Words with 公

公司gōngsī · company公交车gōngjiāochē · public transport vehicle公共汽车gōnggòng qìchē · bus公斤gōngjīn · kilogram公园gōngyuán · public park办公室bàngōngshì · office公里gōnglǐ · kilometre高速公路gāosùgōnglù · motorway外公wàigōng · grandpa (mother’s father)公寓gōngyù · apartment building

Words with 元

元yuán · Chinese monetary unit元旦Yuándàn · New Year’s Day单元dānyuán · unit (forming an entity)元首yuánshǒu · head of state元素yuánsù · element元宵节Yuánxiāojié · Lantern Festival多元化duōyuánhuà · diversification

More words: Time & Sequence

迟早chízǎo · sooner or later除夕Chúxī · lunar New Year’s Eve从此cóngcǐ · from now on从前cóngqián · previously古代gǔdài · ancient times国庆节Guóqìngjié · PRC National Day (October 1st)阶段jiēduàn · stage近代jìndài · modern times (roughly 1840 to 1919 in China)

FAQs

公元 (gōngyuán) means “CE (Common Era)” or “Christian Era”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it gōngyuán: gōng with a 1st tone, then yuán with a 2nd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 公元 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type gongyuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 公元 from the suggestions. Typing gongyuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
公元 is an HSK 5 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.