"I.e." and "e.g." are two of those tricky abbreviations that people often seem to confuse. Here's the quick and dirty tip: use "i.e." to introduce a further clarification and "e.g." to offer examples. In the sentence "I like to eat boardwalk food, i.e., funnel cake and french fries," the use of "i.e." indicates those are the only boardwalk foods I enjoy. On the other hand, if I were to say, "I like to eat boardwalk food, e.g., funnel cake and french fries," you would know those were just examples--I may also like snow cones and corn dogs.
i.e. 是拉丁文 id est 的縮寫,它的意思就是“那就是說,換句話說”,等同于“that is,in other words”,目的是用來進一步解釋前面所說的觀點。
e.g. 是拉丁文 exempli gratia 的縮寫,它的意思是“舉個例子,比如”,等同與“for example”,目的就是用幾個例子來說明前面的觀點。
etc.就比較好理解了,它是 etcetera 的縮寫,意思是“等等”,相當于“and so on”。
e.g. 和 etc. 不能出現(xiàn)在同一句話中,因為 e.g. 是表示泛泛的舉幾個例子,并沒有囊括所有的實例,其中就已經(jīng)包含“等等”,如果再加一個 etc. 就畫蛇添足了,例如下面這句話就是錯的:Writing instructors focus on a number of complex skills that require extensive practice (e.g., organization, clear expression, logical thinking, etc.)
注意,用 i.e. 和 e.g. 還有 etc. 的時候,不要把“小點”給丟了。