When How to Use 'eg' in a Sentence

When to Use E.G.

Imagine an alien landed in your backyard while you were eating dessert and you had to explain what ice cream is. What would you say? You would probably give some examples of different types of ice cream, like chocolate or vanilla. Examples are a great way to help people understand what you are talking about.

Using the abbreviation e.g. is a way to introduce examples in the sentences you write. E.g is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase exempli gratia which means 'for example'. Even if you don't speak Latin, it is easy to remember what e.g stands for:

You can remember that e.g. stands for examples given

Use e.g. in place of the words 'for example' when you want to give your reader a few examples of something previously mentioned in a sentence, but not a complete list.

Let's think about ice cream again. If I wanted to write a sentence that talks about ice cream flavors I might write the following:

There are many different flavors of ice cream, e.g., chocolate, vanilla, strawberry.

In this sentence I used e.g. to give some examples of the ice cream flavors the first part of my sentence mentions, but I didn't list every delicious flavor.

Clues

E.g. also works like a clue in a sentence to help readers identify examples.

Jenny can say over fifty different words in French, e.g., bonjour, joie, effroi.

Even if you can't read or speak French, since the sentence uses e.g. you know that the words following the abbreviation are some examples of French words.

Use E.G. in a Sentence

Location, Location, Location

E.g. is used to introduce examples in a sentence, so it is always followed by an example or examples. That means e.g. is usually used in the middle of a sentence and never found at the very end.

When you use e.g. in a sentence both the letters e and g should be lowercase. Since it is an abbreviation, each letter is followed by a period. Also, when using e.g. to give examples, a comma should always be placed after the period following the g.

Now, we know e.g. is followed by a comma when we use it to offer examples, but do we need punctuation in front of the e? Parentheses, commas or semicolons are needed to use e.g. in a sentence.

Parentheses

You can use parentheses ( ) to insert e.g. into a sentence. But don't forget the comma that always follows the abbreviation:

Five students in Mrs. Smith's class (e.g., Tony, Lisa, Phil) are out sick today.

Commas & Semicolons

Instead of parentheses you can use commas or semicolons to add e.g. to a sentence.

Use a comma before e.g. if the text following the abbreviation is NOT a stand-alone sentence:

I like all types of animals, e.g., horses, dogs, cats.

A comma is used before the e.g. because the phrase 'horses, dogs, cats' is not a complete sentence.

Use a semicolon before e.g. if the text that comes after e.g. is a complete sentence:

Tim played many different sports in high school; e.g., he played football and ran track.

A semicolon is used before the e.g. because 'he played football and ran track' can stand alone as a complete sentence.