Some people write “et. al.” with a period after “et.” Don’t do that! “Et” is a whole word, not an abbreviation. So it’s “et al.” (period after “al” only). Think of it like this: “et” is Latin for “and,” and “al.” is short for “others.” You wouldn’t write “and. others,” would you? No. You’d look silly.
Another classic: using “et al.” for two authors. Nope. If there are two, you write both names every time: (Smith and Jones 42). Et al. is for the crowd, not the duo.
And please—please—don’t italicize “et al.” in MLA. Some people think it needs italics because it’s Latin. But MLA says no. Just plain text. It’s a humble little phrase, not a rockstar.
Why Bother With This Latin Nonsense?
Because your professor will notice. And more importantly, et al. saves you from writing “Johnson, Miller, Garcia, Lee, and Patel (2026)” every single time you cite a big study. Your fingers will thank you. Your reader will thank you. It’s like a polite, scholarly shortcut.
Mla Many Authors In Text Citation at Keith Flores blog
Plus, it makes you look like you know ancient languages. Which you kind of do now. You’re basically a mini-linguist. Go flex.
