E.g

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.

Do you prounce "e.g." as letters of the alphabet or only as "for example"? Why is it shortened to "e.g."?

 

[Tarheel]

E.g. stands for exempli gratia in Latin and means for example. I would pronounce it exactly the way it's written. It's used to introduce an example of something.

 

[Yankee]

Hello.

Do you pronounce "e.g." as letters of the alphabet or only as "for example"? Why is it shortened to "e.g."?

E.G. (exempli gratia) is latin for and pronounced as "for example". I have never heard anyone use "e-g" in conversation.

 

[Tarheel]

My assumption is that I am reading it, not using it in conversation.

 

[GoesStation]

You should always pronounce it by naming the letters.

 

[Rachel Adams]

You should always pronounce it by naming the letters.

In American English?

 

[GoesStation]

In American English?

I'm pretty sure my statement applies to all varieties. When reading e.g. aloud, I think most people would pronounce the letter names.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Have you checked GS's Member Info?

I am afraid, I haven't. I thought what Yankee suggested was BrE pronunciation while saying "e.g." as letters is AmE.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Just click on Member Info beneath a member's name to the left of their post, and you will find out their native language.

OK. Thank you. One more question. If most people will pronounce it as letters it won't be a mistake to say "for example" either. Right?

 

[GoesStation]

OK. Thank you. One more question. If most people [STRIKE]will[/STRIKE] pronounce it as letters it [STRIKE]won't[/STRIKE] wouldn't be a mistake to say "for example" either. Right?

I'd consider it an error. There's no reason not to read it as it was written.

This is an initialism. As such, it's different from abbreviations like etc. which are normally expanded when reading aloud.

 

[Yankee]

You should always pronounce it by naming the letters.

Not this AmE speaker. OK. First you would obviously only see "e.g." in print and in that case, mentally, when reading one might simply understand and "translate" its meaning. On the other hand, if I were reading a statement verbally to someone, I (Yankee) would typically/always say "for example".

 

[tedmc]

I would read the letters as it is not always easy to pronounce foreign abbreviations in full, and reading what it stands for is not reading exactly what is written.

How about these abbreviations?
r.s.v.p.
viz.
c.f.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Not this AmE speaker. OK. First you would obviously only see "e.g." in print and in that case, mentally, when reading one might simply understand and "translate" its meaning. On the other hand, if I were reading a statement verbally to someone, I (Yankee) would typically/always say "for example".

That's why I asked if I read "e.g." but say "for example" would it be a mistake or not. So I have two options. "Eg" pronounced as the letters of the alphabet and as "for example".