Comma After i.e. and e.g.

Comma After i.e. and e.g. Comma After i.e. and e.g. Comma After i.e. and e.g. By Maeve Maddox A reader wants to know if the abbreviations i.e. and e.g. should be followed by a comma. i.e.: from the Latin phrase id est, â€Å"that is.† Used in English to restate a previous word or expression: â€Å"He really enjoys a good bildungsroman, i.e., coming-of-age novel.† e.g.: from the Latin phrase exempli gratia, â€Å"for the sake of the example.† In English, it means â€Å"for example† and is used to introduce one or more examples: â€Å"I like animals, e.g. dogs, cats, and horses.† The two terms are frequently mixed up. If you have trouble remembering which means â€Å"in other words† and which means â€Å"for example,† you can use a mnemonic to keep them apart, or you can avoid using them altogether. A simple mnemonic that helps many writers is the fact that the word example begins with the letter e. E.g., therefore, is the one that means â€Å"for example.† On the other hand, instead of e.g., you can write â€Å"for example,† and for i.e., you can write â€Å"namely† or â€Å"in other words.† Style guides do not agree on whether or not a comma should follow both these abbreviations. They do all agree that a comma precedes i.e. when the i.e. phrase occurs in a running text (i.e., not enclosed in parenthesis). The consensus seems to be in favor of the comma in American usage; against it in British usage. The Penguin Writer’s Manual (British) shows both i.e. and e.g. without a following comma. Fowler, in his venerable Modern English Usage, opines that â€Å"whether a comma follows [e.g.] or not is indifferent, or rather is decided by the punctuation-pitch of the writer of the passage. He says nothing of i.e. The Chicago Manual of Style states that i.e. and e.g. should be â€Å"confined to parentheses and notes and followed by a comma.† The AP Stylebook, whose â€Å"punctuation-pitch† leans generally to the side of â€Å"the fewer commas the better,† is pro-comma when it comes to i.e. and e.g. According to AP, both abbreviations are â€Å"always followed by a comma.† As with so many matters of punctuation, the writer’s best practice is to choose a style reference and follow its recommendations. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader†The Difference Between "will" and "shall"Apostrophe with Plural Possessive Nouns