Get It Right: e.g. and i.e.

As part of our ongoing "Get It Right" series, today we'll be covering the use of two abbreviations, e.g. and i.e.. While they are not words, but rather abbreviations, we still notice them being used incorrectly more often than we'd like to admit.

e.g.

In fact, the abbreviation e.g. is not even an abbreviation of English words. It actually stands for the Latin phrase exemplī grātiā. In this instance, grātiā roughly translates as "for the sake", while exemplī is in the genetive case and means "of example". Therefore e.g. means "for the sake of example" or simply "for example".

If you always remember that e.g. means "for example", then you should never have any problems using it. If you haven't given an example, then you're not using it correctly.

i.e.

This second abbreviations is also from Latin and is short for id est, which means "that is". While it is often incorrectly used in an identical way to e.g., it is meant to be used for elaboration rather than giving an example or a list of examples. You should use i.e. when you're rephrasing your sentence or clarifying your point.

Are there any common mistakes in English that really get on your nerves? Tell us about them in the comments below and we'll try to cover them in an upcoming "Get It Right" post. Thanks for reading!