i.e vs e.g

Difference between i.e and e.g We commonly encounter these two abbreviations daily in our creative writings in English.…

Difference between i.e and e.g

We commonly encounter these two abbreviations daily in our creative writings in English. The two abbreviations i.e. and e.g. are very much usual to our daily English writing. They form the basic component of the many abbreviations that are used in English language. These two abbreviations are used differently even though they both trace their origin to be from the Latin language.

In Latin “id est.” Stands for i.e. which is simply taken to mean “that is”. In the other hand the direct word that e.g. stands for is “exempli gratia”. These words are taken to mean; “for the sake of example”.

In most instances i.e. is taken to clarify the statement which it follows, whereas on the other hand e.g. is used to give examples or list to a previous term. Most people undertake e.g.  To depicts the given example.

Let us use an example to depict the usage of the abbreviation i.e. ‘Tom went to school every weekend (i.e. Saturdays and Sundays.).

On the contrary the use of e.g. abbreviation will be followed by a list to explain the term that it precedes. For instance ‘fruits of various colors (e.g. green, orange and red) this example properly depicts the usage of i.e. in English language writing context.

However some conventions guide the use of these abbreviations. They should be properly used within the parenthesis and they should be in lower case when used.

The other convention that must be followed is the use of periods between the two letters in each abbreviation and at the end. The end or final period is preceded by a comma. Most writers misplace the comma that should follow these abbreviations but instead omit them. This is a serious grammar mistake that will change the formwork of the right abbreviations.

To the contrary I find the misuse of these two abbreviations to be rampant everywhere. Majority of the people use them alternatively to mean the same thing. This is not the case and this mistake should be brought to an immediate stop. Some have gone a step further in relating ‘i.e.’ to be similar to ‘in other words’. The same people confuses ‘e.g.’ to mean ‘including’ which is totally wrong.

 

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