e.g.

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Alternative spellings 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Pronunciation 1.4 Adverb 1.4.1 Usage notes 1.4.2 Translations 2 Latin 2.1 Abbreviation

[edit] English

[edit] Alternative spellings

• eg. (informal)
• eg (informal)
• ex. gr.

[edit] Etymology

Abbreviation of Latin exempli gratiā (“‘for example’”). Gratiā here is in the ablative case. Previously abbreviated to ex. gr.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Adverb

e.g. (not comparable)

1. (abbreviation, initialism) Literally, “for example”. Used to introduce an example or list of examples to illustrate what is being discussed.

   Asia is a large continent, with many large nations (e.g. China, India, and Japan).

[edit] Usage notes

• The list of examples following e.g. should not be exhaustive^[1] (in that case, i.e. should be used) and should not be followed by et cetera or etc. as this is a tautology.

• Opinion is mixed about whether this term should be italicized as although it is Latin, it has become part of standard English, and whether it should be written with a separating space "e. g." as it was originally two separate words.

• If a comma is used with e.g., the comma should precede e.g., not follow it:

"I like food, e.g. chocolate." (cf. "I like food, for example chocolate.")

[edit] Translations

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[edit] Latin

[edit] Abbreviation

e.g.

1. exemplī grātia (for example)

• Notes:

1. ^ 2002, Sir Ernest Gowers, The Complete Plain Words, ISBN 9781567922035.