The Grammar Doctor

Abbreviations

Abbreviations used with people's names

Abbreviations of titles used with personal names are always acceptable, whether the title comes before or after the name. These abbreviations are followed a a period.

Names of familiar organizations, institutions, acronyms, etc.

Organizations commonly known by their abbreviated title are usually abbreviated in writing. When abbreviations are made up of all capital letters, no periods are used in the abbreviation.

Latin abbreviations

Use periods common Latin abbreviations like these.

Abbreviation  Latin  Meaning
e.g. exempli gratia for example
i.e. id est that is
etc. et cetera and so on
N.B. nota bene note well
pro tem pro tempore for the time being


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