Additional info.:
BizWritingTip response:
You are absolutely correct. Writers often ignore the necessary punctuation. The abbreviations “i.e.” and “e.g.” are considered interrupting words within a sentence and require punctuation on both sides to indicate this. You must put a comma or a bracket (parentheses) before the abbreviation and a comma after.
The abbreviation “i.e.” (from the Latin “id est” meaning “that is”) means everything that follows.
Examples (correct)
My business plans involve trips to several cities, i.e., Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary.
My business plans involve trips to several cities (i.e., Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary).
If you use e.g. to provide some examples, but the examples you provide are all of the subset of the thing for which you are providing examples, should you use "e.g." or "i.e."?
For example, if you say big cities in Georgia (I live in Georgia), and you say "e.g., Atlanta, Augusta, Macon, Savannah, Athens," should you use "e.g." for examples or should you use "i.e." for "that is."
You have given examples but you have also listed all the big cities. I know the question hangs on the definition of "big" city.
But that's where the whole things gets blurry.