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When a sentence starts with e.g., should the e be capitalized?

Neverminding that it might be better to start with "For example," ... Thinking of SE posts and comments, should the starting e be capitalized?

RegDwigнt
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jcolebrand
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    Yes, it should. Why not? – Kit Z. Fox Jun 01 '11 at 19:32
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    @Kit because the question was raised, and my interest was piqued. I, for one, don't do so. – jcolebrand Jun 01 '11 at 19:33
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    @jcolebrand I meant no offense. It's the first word in a sentence, so I don't see why you wouldn't capitalize it. Why don't you? – Kit Z. Fox Jun 01 '11 at 19:36
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    Wow, this is a community of fast typists. – Kit Z. Fox Jun 01 '11 at 19:38
  • @kit because normally in that situation I am throwing off a quip and don't mean it to be a complete thought (which I consider as the definition of a sentence) – jcolebrand Jun 01 '11 at 19:38
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    @jcolebrand Hmm. Well, in that case, I think you don't need to capitalize it. But then, it's not really at the beginning of a sentence in that case. Personally, I just like the way e.g. looks. Much prettier than E.g. – Kit Z. Fox Jun 01 '11 at 19:40

3 Answers3

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Yes. Sentences start with capital letters; abbreviations are no exception.

A possible* exception is when a proper name starts with a lower case letter. E.g., if I changed my name to matthew then "matthew is awesome." would be correct. This is because the word is intended to be lower case. E.g., on the other hand, has no such association with it.

* Don't make an exception. This is just playing devil's advocate. See comments.

RegDwigнt
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Matthew Read
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  • I see what you did there ;) – jcolebrand Jun 01 '11 at 19:36
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    If you start a sentence with van Gogh, you should capitalize the 'v'. You should never start a sentence with e.e. cummings. – Peter Shor Jun 01 '11 at 19:37
  • lol, but but but ;) – jcolebrand Jun 01 '11 at 19:38
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    Indeed. van, bin and the like are arguably not part of the true name; but since they are intended to be capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, that would take precedence anyways. I would personally always start a sentence with a capital letter regardless. – Matthew Read Jun 01 '11 at 19:40
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    What about eBay or iPads? (I try to write so that I don't have to start sentences with such words, but I don't always succeed.) – Monica Cellio Jun 01 '11 at 19:55
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    @Monica Covered by my answer; sentences start with capital letters unless you want to adopt the exception. – Matthew Read Jun 01 '11 at 19:59
  • @jcolebrand: Shouldn't one avoid starting a sentence with an abbreviation anyway? – Mitch Jun 01 '11 at 20:26
  • @Mitch you seem to have some fundamental misunderstanding here. I'm asking that very question, albeit about a specific example. – jcolebrand Jun 01 '11 at 20:37
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    @jcolebrand: Rereading the question, I don't think I've misunderstood. It seems like you are asking 'Assuming that it's OK to start a sentence with an abbreviation, do you capitalize it'. And I'm just addressing the assumption. I don't know, I'm only emphasizing the doubt by asking it as a question, I find it 'infelicitous', but in the possible world where it is allowed (possibly this one), I agree that it should be capitalized. – Mitch Jun 01 '11 at 20:42
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    @Mitch I meant "how the hell should I know?" ;) – jcolebrand Jun 01 '11 at 21:16
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    This seems like a nice place for a rant. The advertising business is trying to make writing even harder for us poor commoners by violating some of the most sacred precepts of our language. I will never write anything but Ebay, Ipad (possibly I-pad or I-Pad, but I don't need this device in any case), Tomtom, Linkedin (for years I thought it was LinkedLn) etc. I call Jihad! Who's with me? Come on, there's bound to be booty! You may have the Ipads. – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica Jun 02 '11 at 00:39
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    If you want to make a statement that English is more important to you than technology, you could intentionally start sentences with IPad, but it looks rather silly. iPad is the way to go, however, for those with technological cultural literacy (though it is rare that you will need to use the name without a definite or indefinite article, which renders the point rather moot). – Rex Kerr Jun 02 '11 at 01:55
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    I think language rules should trump any marketing silliness, and if Ipad looks ugly then it fully deserves to. The authors of one of my favorite books are even more extreme and capitalize case-sensitive identifiers at the beginning of sentences: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book-Z-H-10.html#%_sec_1.1.2 – starblue Jun 02 '11 at 07:24
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    @starblue: that is the first time I have seen this, and I don't like it at all: while it is arguably more pleasing to read with capitalized beginning letters, technical correctness and avoidance of ambiguity should always have precedence. In particular, mathematical symbols should never be capitalized. - On the other hand, I rather agree with what you said about marketing silliness. – leftaroundabout Jun 02 '11 at 11:53
  • I suspect the reason for asking specifically about e.g. is that it's an abbreviation of a Latin term. Some Latin terms (e.g. the species name in biological classifications) should begin with a lowercase letter (I'm not sure on the rule in that scenario for the start of sentences). – JohnLBevan Aug 02 '16 at 07:40
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    @JohnLBevan No difference, capitalize the starting letter of a sentence. – Matthew Read Aug 02 '16 at 14:53
  • According to https://study.com/academy/lesson/when-how-to-use-eg-in-a-sentence.html#:~:text=It%20is%20also%20important%20to,used%20to%20start%20a%20sentence. starting a sentence with "E.g.," is not correct. Who should I trust? Thanks – goahead97 Mar 19 '24 at 12:20
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Yes. For example is capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, so is its Latin equivalent exempli gratia, and so is its abbreviated form e.g.

RegDwigнt
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Starting a sentence with e.g. is always wrong, so the question is moot. e.g. should be preceded by a description of the thing you're giving an example of, therefore e.g. should always be preceded by a comma, e.g. this sentence.

Lie Ryan
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    Since you're being a stickler and all, allow me to point out that when used in the manner above, "therefore" should be preceded by a semicolon, and followed by a comma, e.g. "... the thing you're giving an example of; therefore, e.g. should always be...." – narx Sep 14 '11 at 07:29
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    @Narx would that be tantamount to a dangling preposition there, since all semicolons are a tended to be a break in thought on the topic being semicoloned from the right (so: complete thought; new thought) and thus, the "of" in your example would be a dangler? – jcolebrand Sep 14 '11 at 15:45
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    @jcolebrand Touché. Good point about the semicolon (not a verb). But it shouldn't be "... the thing of which you're giving an example; therefore...." So awkward. Perhaps "... preceded by a description of what you're exemplifying...." In any case, I'm okay with hanging prepositions. I'm not going to walk around saying, "About what are you talking?" – narx Oct 08 '11 at 04:21
  • If I recall what I was thinking three weeks ago that was supposed to be tongue in cheek snark :p – jcolebrand Oct 08 '11 at 21:12
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    "Starting a sentence with e.g. is always wrong", said he and started the very next sentence with "e.g.". – RegDwigнt Oct 01 '12 at 22:17
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    Always is a very, very strong and unforgiving word. – corsiKa Oct 01 '12 at 22:23
  • @RegDwigh: "Your edition made the sentence less interesting," said the Zen Master, and thus the disciple was enlightened. – Lie Ryan Oct 01 '12 at 22:48
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    This is currently the most downvoted answer in this question. Weirdly, it is also the answer featured in Google Search's featured snippet for "how to use e.g. at the start of a sentence". – galacticninja Jun 23 '20 at 03:59
  • I like this answer, but want more to see the more correct alternative. – mcp May 15 '23 at 20:45