Difference between ie and eg

Table of Contents

‘ie’ stands for ‘id est’ which is Latin, and translates into ‘in other words’ or ‘that is’ or ‘that is to say’. Basically, it is used to add more information to something that was previously listed or to clarify that something. For example, Mary has two journals, i.e. one blue and one red. Here the i.e. is used to give more information about the journals, which were mentioned before. ‘e.g’ can be used interchangeably with “specifically” or “namely.”

‘eg’ stands for ‘exempli gratia’ which is again Latin, and translates into ‘for example’. ‘eg’ is primarily used to list example. However, the examples listed are used in a way to try and elaborate on the topic. They must not be just any examples, they must add to the topic on hand, so that the reader understands a bit more about the topic by looking at the examples. For example: “The grocery store is stocked with a lot of products, e.g. eggs, bread, soap.” It is not necessary to list etc. at the end of an e.g. list, as e.g. already implies that only some examples are being lists, hence some are being omitted. Hence, etc. just becomes redundant.

It can now be seen that i.e. and e.g. are two completely different things and should be used as such. In short, ‘ie’ means ‘that is’, whereas ‘eg’ means ‘for example’. One handy way of remembering them is to note the ‘e’ in ‘eg’ can be ‘example’, whereas ie can also be translated as ‘in essence’, which basically means that is and is an alternate translation for ‘ie’. The ‘i’ in ‘ie’ can also be used for ‘in other words’.

Comparison between ie and eg:

	ie	eg
Full Form	id est	exempli gratia
Stands for	In other words or That is	For example or for the sake of an example
Also written as	i.e. i. e. i. e.	e.g. e. g. Eg e.g.
Etymology	From Latin i. e., an abbreviation of id est (“that is”).	A terser form of ex. gr., both abbreviating Latin exemplī grātiā (“for the sake of an example”).
Purpose	Used to explain, clarify or rephrase a statement Used to add explanatory information or to state something in different words	Used to list examples and to elaborate on the topic by providing examples.

Reference: Wiktionary (i.e., e.g.), Oxford Dictionaries (i.e., e.g.), American Journal Experts, Grammarly Image Courtesy: Quora.com

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