Let’s Get “i.e.” and “e.g.” Straight, Shall We?

Dear Legal Writer: Let’s get “i.e.” and “e.g.” straight, shall we?

I.e. and e.g. are everywhere in legal writing, and too many people mix them up.

In fact, it’s one of the top 5 mistakes Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogarty) says she sees when editing technical documents. (GrammarGirl .com).

You should just learn them now so you don’t have to look them up or guess every time.

Here’s a guide.

🔷 I.E. = IN OTHER WORDS

“I.e.” stands for “id est,” which in Latin is: “it is,” “that is,” or “in other words.”

You should use “i.e.” when you want to provide another way to say something you just said.

> “The professor used his favorite interactive teaching method, i.e., the flipped classroom approach.”

> “Before starting law school, Mary wanted to visit the world’s most populated city, i.e., Tokyo.”

> “John tried to find the product at the one big supermarket in the next town town (i.e., Whole Foods).”

You might also say, the word(s) after the “i.e.” should equate to the word or phrase immediately before the “i.e.”
—

🔷 E.G. = FOR EXAMPLE

“E.g.” in Latin means “exempli gratia,” or “for the sake of example.”

You should use “e.g.” after a word or phrase for which you’re introducing examples.

> “Professors use various interactive teaching methods, e.g., the flipped classroom approach, the Socratic method, and peer-to-peer learning.”

> “Before starting law school, Mary wanted to visit several big cities, e.g., Tokyo, New York, and London.”

> “Before trying the new Whole Foods in the next town, John tried several small convenient stores (e.g., WaWa, 7 Eleven, Sheets).”

 —Note that sometimes I omit the “and” before the last item in the list. Whether to include is a matter of personal style, and I’ve seen it done both ways.

🔷 PUNCTUATION WITH I.E. & E.G.

1: Periods. The style guides generally endorse including a period after each letter of both abbreviations—and that’s how I write them.

2: Commas. A majority of guides also advise to use a comma both before and after the abbreviation—which I usually do, too, but have frequently seen done both ways. (Grammar Girl has compiled a handy table of what each style guide says in her blog.)

3: Parentheses. As the above examples show, you should set off an “i.e.” or “e.g.” phrase with a pair of parentheses, in which case NO COMMA is needed before the abbreviation.

4. Em-dashes. At least one style guide (i.e., Merriam-Webster) says both “i.e.” and “e.g.” “can sometimes follow” an em-dash, and I’ve seen them used that way.

🔷 MEMORY DEVICES

For “i.e.,” think “in essence.”

Note that “in” is also the first word in “in other words,” the literal translation of “i.e.”

For “e.g.,” which starts with “e,” remember “example.”

Also, although “e.g.” does NOT stand for “example given,” if that helps you remember what “e.g.” means, then remember it!

💌 Amanda