abbreviations - Can I start a sentence with "i.e."?


While writing a rhetorical question I ran into a case where it seemed natural to start a sentence with "I.e":



How do we handle the case when the list is empty? I.e., if the filter matched no entries?



Is that OK in this case? In any case?


Edit: Thanks, everyone. It seems the consensus is that it's legal but not attractive. I like the alternatives presented in the accepted answer and comments. For my part, I will probably be avoiding the construct in the future.



Answer



Combo of my and @FumbleFingers' comments, which I believe would constitute an answer:


While one couldn't empirically insist that a sentence cannot begin with i.e., doing so would unnecessarily raise some eyebrows. Might I suggest a couple of alternatives?




  • How do we handle the case when the list is empty (i.e. the filter matched no entries)?

  • How do we handle the case when the list is empty, i.e. the filter matched no entries?



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