What Does “et al.” Mean?

Et al meaning: “et al.” is a Latin abbreviation of et alii (“and others”). Citation styles use it to shorten author lists so you name only the first author when a source has three or more.

What does “et al.” mean?

“Et al.” is short for the Latin phrase et alii (masculine), et aliae (feminine), or et alia (neuter), all of which translate as “and others.” Academic styles use it to condense long author lists into a short, readable in-text form.

The purpose is efficiency. When a study lists five, ten, or twenty authors, repeating every surname in each citation would clutter your sentences. Instead you name the first author, whose surname carries the alphabetical sort in your reference list, and let “et al.” stand in for the rest. Readers who need the full roster find it in the reference entry.

Because “al.” can represent alii, aliae, or alia depending on the gender of the people cited, the abbreviation is deliberately neutral. In modern English usage you never need to choose a form: “et al.” covers any group of authors.

How do you punctuate and format “et al.”?

Write “et al.” with a period after “al.” but never after “et,” and do not italicize it in APA or MLA. “Et” is a complete Latin word meaning “and,” so it takes no period; “al.” is an abbreviation, so it always closes with a period.

These formatting points trip up most writers:

• No period after “et” — it is a whole word, not an abbreviation.
• Always a period after “al.” — even mid-sentence.
• No italics — APA 7 and MLA 9 treat “et al.” as fully anglicized, so it stays in roman type, unlike ibid. or sic in some contexts.
• Sentence-final period — if “et al.” ends a sentence, its period doubles as the full stop. Do not type two periods.
• Possessive — APA accepts “et al.’s findings” when you need the possessive.

How do you use “et al.” in APA?

In APA 7th edition, use “et al.” in the in-text citation for any work with three or more authors, starting from the very first citation. Name the first author’s surname followed by “et al.” and the year; for one or two authors, list every name instead.

This is a key change from APA 6th edition, which required you to spell out up to five authors the first time. APA 7 simplifies the rule: three or more authors are always shortened, with no “first mention in full” step.

Note the comma placement: in APA the comma falls after “et al.” and before the year, not before “et al.” The exception is when two sources shorten to the same form — then you spell out as many names as needed to tell them apart, which can put a comma before “et al.”:

Disambiguated(Nguyen, Park, Ali, et al., 2021) and (Nguyen, Park, Silva, et al., 2021)

APA reference lists do not use “et al.” Instead, list every author up to and including 20. For 21 or more authors, give the first 19, an ellipsis, and the final author’s name — with no ampersand before it.

21+ authorsTerracciano, A., Abdel-Khalek, A. M., Adam, N., [… names 4–19…], … McCrae, R. R. (2005). National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures. Science, 310(5745), 96–100.

How do you use “et al.” in MLA?

In MLA 9th edition, use “et al.” for any source with three or more authors — in both the in-text citation and the Works Cited entry. Name the first author, then “et al.” For one or two authors, MLA lists every name in full.

Unlike APA, MLA uses no comma between the author and “et al.” in the in-text citation, and no comma before the page number:

A full MLA Works Cited entry for a three-author article looks like this:

MLA Works CitedGomez, Ana, et al. “Urban Heat and Public Health.” Journal of Environmental Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 2023, pp. 45–62.

Because MLA carries “et al.” into the Works Cited itself, the same shortened form appears in both places — a neat contrast with APA, where the reference list stays complete.

What about Chicago and other styles?

Chicago 18th edition uses “et al.” differently in notes versus the bibliography. In footnotes and author-date in-text citations, shorten to the first author plus “et al.” when a source has four or more authors; works with two or three authors are named in full.

Chicago’s bibliography is more generous. List every author for up to ten authors; for eleven or more, give the first seven followed by “et al.”

Harvard-style referencing broadly follows the APA pattern — first author plus “et al.” for three or more sources in-text — but exact thresholds vary by institution, so always check your assigned guide.

Common mistakes and accuracy notes

The most frequent errors are punctuating “et al.” incorrectly, using it for only two authors, and applying the wrong author threshold for your style. “Et al.” never replaces a single co-author, and it never appears in an APA reference list.

Watch for these pitfalls:

• Using “et al.” for two authors. No style abbreviates a two-author source; always name both.
• Adding “and” before “et al.” The “et” already means “and,” so “and et al.” is redundant.
• Mixing thresholds. APA and MLA shorten at three authors; Chicago waits until four.
• Forgetting disambiguation. When different APA sources collapse to the same “et al.” form, expand the names until each is unique.

Automated tools handle these rules reliably when the underlying author data is complete, but they cannot detect names missing from the source record or decide when two references need disambiguating. Always confirm that every author is captured and that your in-text form matches your reference entry before submitting.

Frequently asked questions

What does “et al.” stand for?

“Et al.” is short for the Latin et alii, et aliae, or et alia, all meaning “and others.” It stands in for the co-authors you do not name individually in a citation.

Is there a period after “et” in “et al.”?

No. “Et” is a complete Latin word meaning “and,” so it takes no period. Only “al.” — an abbreviation of alii — needs a period, making “et. al.” incorrect.

When do you use “et al.” in APA?

Use “et al.” in APA 7 for any in-text citation of a work with three or more authors, from the first citation onward. Sources with one or two authors always name every author.

When do you use “et al.” in MLA?

Use “et al.” in MLA 9 for three or more authors, in both the in-text citation and the Works Cited entry. Name the first author, then “et al.” with no comma between them.

Should “et al.” be italicized?

No. APA 7 and MLA 9 treat “et al.” as a fully anglicized abbreviation, so it stays in regular roman type. Italicizing it is a common but avoidable error.

Can you use “et al.” in a reference list?

It depends on the style. MLA uses “et al.” in Works Cited for three or more authors, and Chicago uses it beyond ten. APA never uses it in the reference list, listing up to 20 authors and an ellipsis for 21 or more.

Is there a comma before “et al.”?

Usually not. When only one surname precedes it, APA writes “(Smith et al., 2020)” and MLA writes “(Smith et al. 25)” — no comma before “et al.” A comma appears only when multiple names precede it during APA disambiguation.

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