'for example' and 'such as'

Students often make mistakes when using these two phrases. To avoid mistakes, follow this simple advice:

• Use For example, at the start of a sentence.

• Use such as in the middle of a sentence.

Compare these examples:

Children should eat less junk food. For example, they should avoid eating burgers and chips.
Children should avoid eating junk food such as burgers and chips.

Notice that 'For example' is followed by a comma and a full sentence. 'Such as' is in the middle of the
sentence, followed by two nouns. You can use 'For instance' instead of 'For example'. You can use 'like'
instead of 'such as'.

The phrase 'for example' and 'such as' have the same meaning, that is to state the examples related to
the content in the sentence. Yet, they are quite different in terms of their position in a sentence.

'For example' can be used in the middle of the sentence as well as at the beginning of it. Moreover, it has
to be between two commas when it is put in the middle of the sentence. Here is how:

The students have less interest in social science, for example, history, geography, sociology.
The students have less interest in social science. For example, they tend to be lazy in learning
history or geography.

'Such as' can only be used in the middle of the sentence but not at the beginning. Yet, this phrase does
not need two commas in between. Here is how:

Several notable football managers such as Carlo Ancellotti and Rafael Benitez begin to lose the
opportunity to lead elite teams