How to Write Right: Exempli Gratia
- — April 1, 2010
From the desk of Roberta Klarreich
I’m planning to get up to speed on Shakespeare’s lesser-known works (i.e., Pericles).
It’s also a good idea to get up to speed on the abbreviations i.e. and e.g., which can get mixed up. Both abbreviations stand for Latin phrases: i.e. is short for id est, and e.g. stands for exempli gratia. These phrases reveal the meanings of their abbreviations: id means “that” and est is “is.” Thus, i.e. literally means “that is.” Exempli gratia translates as “for the sake of example,” or, more freely, “for example.”
We have to fix our initial sentence, since Pericles is mentioned as an example:
I’m planning to get up to speed on Shakespeare’s lesser-known works (e.g., Pericles).
Illustration by Andrew Saeger
