It’s a noble, ancient abbreviation that saves your sanity and your paper’s word count. Use it when a source has three or more authors in MLA format. That’s the golden rule: three or more equals et al. Two authors? You list both. Three or more? You say goodbye to the extras with a cheerful “et al.”
Imagine a mariachi band with fifteen musicians—you don’t name each one at the door. You say, “The band plus others.” That’s et al. in action. Just remember it’s not a party invitation; it’s a citation lifesaver.
The Sacred Format: No Guesswork Allowed
You write the first author’s last name, then a comma, then “et al.” in plain text. No italics, no bold, no secret handshake. For example: Smith, et al. Yes, there’s a period after “al” because it’s an abbreviation. Don’t skip it, or the MLA ghost will haunt your works cited page.
In your in-text citation, it looks like this: (Smith, et al. 42). That’s it. No extra authors, no “and friends,” no list of second cousins twice removed. You’ve just saved yourself eleven names worth of typing.
