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e.g.

hwsoderlund

New Member
Swedish
Is "e.g." in written text always pronounced "for example", or is it also correct to literally pronounce it "e.g."?

/Henrik
Welcome to the forum, where you'll find personal opinions such as mine. 👁 Smile :)


I use words when reading aloud:
e.g. = for example.
i.e. = that is.

Now we can wait for other, more learned opinions. Again, welcome.

Edit: Thanks for the link, Loob. For what it's worth, it didn't change my mind. 👁 Smile :)
I would always pronounce it "For example..." for understandability if reading it out to someone.
Thank you both for your answers. So it is probably advisable to pronounce it "for example". But would it be wrong to pronounce it as written? We are having a discussion with a customer who sent us a text to be recorded by a speaker, and the speaker pronounced it "e.g.". The customer is now claiming that it is incorrect to not substitute "for example" when reading it out loud. I realize that he is probably right, but I just thought I would get an informed opinion first.
No, it's not incorrect to pronounce it eee-gee. See bluegiraffe's answer, and the previous thread I linked to above👁 Smile :)
If I hear someone reading a text aloud say ee jee, I assume that the abbreviation e.g. appears in the text, if he says for example, I take it that the words for and example are written there.
Hello,
One thing that hasn't been mentioned so far is that must depend greatly on the listener as well as on the speaker.
I frequently use the abbreviations 'e.g.' and 'i.e.' (or even 'n.b.', 'c.f.' and 'q.v.') when talking to someone I know will understand them, just as they were all used by my teachers at school. In most cases, therefore, I would use their translated equivalents 'in the street'.
Last edited:
Hello,
One thing that hasn't been mentioned so far is that must depend greatly on the listener as well as on the speaker.
I frequently use the abbreviations 'e.g.' and 'i.e.' (or even 'n.b.', 'c.f.' and 'q.v.') when talking to someone I know will understand them, just as they were all used by my teachers at school. In most cases, therefore, I would use their translated equivalents 'in the street'.

Yes, that is a good point. Personally I was not familiar with the last three abbreviations you mention.
If I hear someone reading a text aloud say ee jee, I assume that the abbreviation e.g. appears in the text, if he says for example, I take it that the words for and example are written there.

Fair comment and one that suggests the question Does it matter? And if it does, when?
Hello,
One thing that hasn't been mentioned so far is that must depend greatly on the listener as well as on the speaker.
I frequently use the abbreviations 'e.g.' and 'i.e.' (or even 'n.b.', 'c.f.' and 'q.v.') when talking to someone I know will understand them, just as they were all used by my teachers at school. In most cases, therefore, I would use their translated equivalents 'in the street'.

e.g.(exempli gratia = for the sake of an example) , i.e. (id est = that is to say) and N.B. (nota bene = note well, always capitalized, though of course one cannot hear that) are, I grant you, frequently used in conversation with educated people, but I have never heard cf. (written together being one word in Latin: confer = compare, or q.v. (quod vide = which you ought to look at) used in everyday conversation. However, I wouldn't doubt that certain schoolmasters might well use the last two, as the very nature of their occupation tends to make them a little pedantic. 👁 Wink ;)
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