Thursday, July 28, 2011

How to Use the Abbreviations i.e. and e.g.

i.e. and e.g. come from abbreviated Latin terms.

i.e. comes from the Latin id est, which means ‘that is’ or ‘in other words’.

e.g. comes from the Latin exempli gratia, which means ‘for example’.

Here are some examples of how to use e.g. correctly:

‘John had a large collection of classic cars, e.g., a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Phaeton and an MG, which he kept in a large warehouse.’

‘Joan had errors in her essay, e.g., no commas.’

Please note that when submitting essays or theses to universities in Australia, it is preferred that you only use e.g. within parentheses, such as in the following examples:

‘Many people thought that John had a large collection of classic cars, (e.g., a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Phaeton and an MG), which he kept in a large warehouse.’

‘Joan had errors in her essay (e.g., no commas).’

Otherwise, it is preferable for you to use ‘for example’ rather than ‘e.g.’
Here are some examples of how to use i.e. correctly:

‘Many people thought that John had a problem with collecting classic cars, i.e. he had too many of them.’

‘Joan didn’t spend enough time writing her essay to ensure there were few errors, i.e. she needs to spend longer on her essays if she wishes to improve her grades.’

i.e. and e.g. are now considered a common part of the English language so you should not need to italicise them, but remember that they are abbreviations so there is always a period after each letter.

Misuse of these two abbreviations is extremely high and many people confuse the two, so if you are not sure, you can always just write the words ‘for example’ or ‘in other words’.

Written by:
Wendy Lee
Finance Manager
Elite Editing

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