I see this everyday on websites and in emails. Someone writes something like “I saw animals at the zoo (i.e. Bears, turtles, tigers, lions, etc.)” But this is wrong.
Most people assume that i.e. means the equivalent of “for example” but it actually means Id Est which in Latin means “That is”. Basically an easy way of thinking of this is saying that i.e. means “in other words”
The proper use of i.e. would be something like this:
“I went to the dentist (i.e., terrible experience).”
What you are doing by putting an “i.e.” into a sentence, is essentially rewriting what you’ve just said in a different way.
The use of e.g. isn’t used nearly as much as it should be. It stands for exempli gratia or “for the sake of example”.
This is the proper way to list examples in a sentence:
“Buy some vegetables, e.g., carrots, broccoli, spinach, etc.”
What you are saying with e.g. is “for example”. Most people think that e.g. is the same as i.e. but they are in fact completely different abbreviations.