Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Rich Freeman <rich0@g.o>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers
Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:12:18
Message-Id: CAGfcS_mi33WJdpdpFnYDNRviM=bXq+qPNFZ=VoddBg4DYYDVKw@mail.gmail.com
In Reply to: [gentoo-user] [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers by Peter Humphrey
1 On Thu, Feb 1, 2018 at 12:03 PM, Peter Humphrey <peter@××××××××××××.uk> wrote:
2 >
3 > I've been seeing some confusion recently about the abbreviations e.g. and
4 > i.e. Their meanings are:
5 >
6 > E.g. Exempli gratia - Latin for "for the sake of example";
7 > I.e. Id est - Latin for "that is".
8 >
9
10 Well, as long as we're explaining grammar, I'll elaborate a tiny bit
11 more since a lot of people (including native English speakers) get
12 these wrong.
13
14 e.g is used when giving one example when many could have used. An
15 example: "Some people in life suffer misfortunes, e.g. having a
16 meteor land on their house." This is just one example of a misfortune
17 somebody could suffer, and there are many other unstated misfortunes.
18 Indeed, instead of saying "An example" in the previous sentence I
19 could have actually started it with, "e.g." I figured that would make
20 the example more confusion which would defeat the purpose.
21
22 i.e. is used when restating something in different words. An example:
23 "Gentoo is a Linux distribution, i.e. a collection of software based
24 on the Linux kernel that is published as a single maintained work."
25 The second part of the sentence is a definition of "Linux
26 distribution" - the definition isn't just one of many examples - it is
27 a description of all Linux distributions.
28
29 --
30 Rich

Replies

Subject Author
[gentoo-user] Re: [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers Grant Edwards <grant.b.edwards@×××××.com>
Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers Neil Bothwick <neil@××××××××××.uk>
Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] A little help for non-native English speakers Peter Humphrey <peter@××××××××××××.uk>