What does i.e. and e.g. stand for and what do they mean in a sentence?

Answer 1

The abbreviation "i.e." is from Latin "id est" which means "there is".

"E.g." is an abbreviation of Latin "exampli gratia", meaning "for example".

These are some of the 'left overs' of a period in which most serious writing by English scholars was done in Latin. (A number of other European languages subsituted abbreviations based on their OWN languages.) The other most prominent example is "etc", short for Latin "et cetera", meaning "and so forth".

In any case, when you find these abbrevations in writing, you should NOT try to utter the Latin expression, nor should you simply speak the letters aloud (as some do). Rather, simply use a standard English equivalent ('that is' OR 'in other words', 'for example', 'and so forth'....)

By the way, people often slightly misuse "i.e." -- as Jim does above. "i.e."/"that is" is used when explaining or defining something in other words. To SPECIFY or name an item you've been describing, use "viz", for which the English equivalent is "namely".

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"The adverbs viz and videlicet are two words of Latin origin used today as synonyms of "namely", "precisely", "that is to say", and introduce a specification or a more detailed description of something stated before."
http://www.reference.com/search?q=viz

Answer 2

i.e. is short for the latin "id est" meaning "that is".
e.g., is short for "exempli gratia" meaning "for example".

You would use "i.e.," when what you are referring to is what it is: I like only a few fruits (i.e., apples, oranges, and grapes).

You would use "e.g.," when what you are referring to is illustrative of a larger set of ideas: I like lots of types of fruit (e.g., apples, oranges, and grapes).

Answer 3

i.e. - Id est (Latin) - meaning: that is.
The best pupil in the class, i.e. Peter, won the prize.

e.g. - exempli gratia- for example
They keep animals, e.g. goats and cattle.

Answer 4

i.e. - intended example
e.g. - example given

they are usually in parentheses in the middle of a sentence, giving an example of what was being talked about..

Answer 5

i.e. is an abreviation of a latin term "id est" which means that is. its normally used when giving a definition of what preceeded it.

e.g. is an abreviation of latin words "exempli gratia" which means "for example"

Answer 6

It means if someone wants to show an example of something..

Answer 7

i. e. = In example
e.g. = example