How to Choose Between i.e. and e.g.

When writing, most people tend to use the terms “i.e.” and “e.g.” interchangeably, or just use i.e. in all references. The terms are similar in that they are used to provide additional information about something mentioned in the preceding sentence. But they do work differently. By far, i.e. is the most well-known--and therefore--used incorrectly most often. You may not even know if you’ve done this yourself but don’t worry, follow these steps to ensure you never will.

Instructions

1. Learn what each term means. I.e. is Latin for “id est” or “that is.” This tells us that it is to be used when you’re trying to clarify or say something in another way. E.g. is Latin for “exempli gratia” or “for example.” This tells us that we are about to list a specific example of what we are talking about in the preceding sentence.

2. Decide which term to use by replacing it with “in other words” for i.e. or with “for example” for e.g. and you will begin to know the difference by how it sounds. It may help to read the sentence out loud.

3. Consider this sentence: “Mary went to the store to buy some produce, in other words, apples and onions.” This is not quite right because apples and oranges are not “other words” for produce; rather they are types of produce.

4. Try the same sentence with the other term: “Mary went to the store to buy some produce, for example, apples and onions.” That sounds right because we just provided specific types of produce. Therefore, you would write: "Mary went to the store to buy some produce, e.g., apples and onions.”

5. Make this sentence correct with i.e. by saying “Mary went to the store to buy some produce, in other words, fruits and vegetables.” We clarified what produce means but did not give a specific list. It would be written, "Mary went to the store to buy some produce, i.e., fruits and vegetables.”

6. Try this common memory trick. Remember the initial letters as: I = in other words and E = example. Remember that when using i.e. you are essentially replacing the word or phrase in question with a synonym. In our example, "fruits and vegetables" are a synonym for "produce." When using e.g. you are providing a list of specific items, such as apples and onions.

Tips & Warnings

• Because they are abbreviations, always use the period after each letter and follow with a comma.

• You could avoid the whole thing and just use “in other words” and “for example” instead.