et all (et al.)

If you cite group authors, you'll see "et al." often - and sometimes the misspelling "et all." Readable rules, clear examples, and quick rewrites below will help you fix errors fast.

Two facts to remember: et al. is Latin for "and others," and the correct form is et + space + al. with a single period after al.

Quick answer

Correct: "et al." (et + space + al. with a period). Wrong: "et all", "etal", "et-al", "et. al."

Use et al. to mean "and others" (from Latin et alii/aliae/alia).
Only al is abbreviated, so put the period after al.
Follow your style guide for when to use et al. versus listing all authors.

Core explanation: what et al. means

Et al. shortens the Latin phrase et alii/aliae/alia - literally "and others." Write et (no period) + space + al. (with period). The period marks the omission; changing al. to all removes the Latin link and produces a misspelling.

Correct: Rivera et al. report improved outcomes.
Wrong: Rivera et all report improved outcomes.
Other wrong forms to avoid: etal, et-al, et. al., al.'

Punctuation, spacing, and hyphenation (practical rules)

Do not hyphenate or fuse the phrase. The pattern is: Name + space + et + space + al. + punctuation as required by your citation style.

The period belongs only to al. If et al. ends a sentence, that period also ends the sentence (no extra period).

Correct: Smith et al. (2020) found...
Correct at sentence end: This was shown by Smith et al.
Don't write: Smith et.al., Smith-et-al, Smith etall, Smith et all

Wrong spacing: Taylor et.al. (2017) reported... - incorrect
Right spacing: Taylor et al. (2017) reported... - correct
Hyphen: Morales et-al (2015) - incorrect; Morales et al. (2015) - correct

Real usage: style guides and audience

Different style manuals set thresholds for using et al. in text and reference lists. Check the edition or journal guidance for exact rules.

APA: In-text citations use et al. for multiple authors per the edition rules; the reference list has different thresholds.
MLA: Often uses et al. after the first author in prose; Works Cited entries follow separate rules.
Chicago: Use et al. in running text or notes depending on the manual.

APA in-text: (Chen et al., 2019)
MLA prose: Chen et al. argue that...
Report style: Baseline metrics (Clark et al., 2022) - include a full reference in the appendix.

Common incorrect forms and paired fixes

Here are typical mistakes with direct corrections you can copy into your draft.

Pair 1 - Wrong: In their study, Smith et all (2020) found that...
Right: In their study, Smith et al. (2020) found that...
Pair 2 - Wrong: The meta-analysis was done by Nguyen etal. (2016).
Right: The meta-analysis was done by Nguyen et al. (2016).
Pair 3 - Wrong: Patel, Green, et all, reported contradictory results.
Right: Patel, Green, et al., reported contradictory results.
Pair 4 - Wrong: Lee et. al. showed a significant effect.
Right: Lee et al. showed a significant effect.
Pair 5 - Wrong: According to Morales et-al (2015), the sample size was small.
Right: According to Morales et al. (2015), the sample size was small.
Pair 6 - Wrong: The findings (Hughes et all, 2021) are preliminary.
Right: The findings (Hughes et al., 2021) are preliminary.
Pair 7 - Wrong: See Bennett etal., 2017 for additional data.
Right: See Bennett et al. (2017) for additional data.
Pair 8 - Wrong: The policy was drafted by Office et all.
Right: The policy was drafted by Office et al.

Try your own sentence

Test the whole sentence, not just the phrase: context clarifies punctuation and whether et al. is appropriate.

Examples: work, school, and casual contexts (copy-ready lines)

Examples cover common contexts and small formatting variations so you can match tone and space.

Work 1 (email): Per the audit by Johnson et al., we should adjust our retention window.
Work 2 (report): Baseline rates (Clark et al., 2022) are shown in Table 3.
Work 3 (slide): Results adapted from Rivera et al. (2019).
School 1 (in-text essay): Recent experiments support this claim (Wang et al., 2021).
School 2 (footnote): See Michaels et al., ch. 2 for background on methodology.
School 3 (bibliography tip): If your style requires it, list all authors in the reference list up to the style threshold instead of using et al.
Casual 1 (tweet): New study by Rivera et al. finds higher retention - worth a read.
Casual 2 (blog): Johnson et al. report that exercise patterns vary by age group.
Casual 3 (chat): Did you see the paper by Kaur et al.? It has good ideas for the project.

How to fix your sentence: step-by-step rewrites

Three quick steps: (1) Decide if et al. is appropriate for your style, (2) correct to "et al.", (3) place commas and parentheses per your citation rules.

Below are bad sentences and corrected rewrites covering common variants.

Rewrite 1 - Wrong: In their review, O'Connor et all 2018 argue for faster adoption of the method.
Right: In their review, O'Connor et al. (2018) argue for faster adoption of the method.
Rewrite 2 - Wrong: The guidelines from Myers et er were followed.
Right: The guidelines from Myers et al. were followed.
Rewrite 3 - Wrong: See Bennett etal., 2017 for additional data.
Right: See Bennett et al. (2017) for additional data.
Rewrite 4 - Wrong: The team (Hernandez et all) published early results.
Right: The team (Hernandez et al.) published early results.
Rewrite 5 - Wrong: Brown et. al. showed improvements in 2015.
Right: Brown et al. (2015) showed improvements.
Rewrite 6 - Wrong: Office et all drafted the memo, which is now public.
Right: Office et al. drafted the memo, which is now public.

Similar mistakes and essential grammar notes

Writers sometimes confuse et al. with other Latin abbreviations or misplace punctuation. Learn the distinctions to avoid swapping mistakes.

et seq. means "and the following," not "and others."
i.e. vs e.g. i.e. = "that is"; e.g. = "for example"; neither means "and others."
Avoid misplaced apostrophes - not: al.' or al's. The correct abbreviation is simply al.
Don't expand et al. mid-sentence to full Latin unless your style requires it.

Memory tricks and a one-line editing checklist

Mnemonic: et al. = et (and) + al. (also others) - one L in al.
Find-and-fix checklist: search for "et all", "etal", "et.al", "et-al" and replace with "et al." after checking context.
Three quick checks: (1) Is et al. needed? (2) Is it spelled "et al."? (3) Is punctuation correct for your style?

FAQ

Is it "et al" or "et al."?

Use "et al." with a period after al because it's an abbreviation. The period is standard in running text and in-text citations; reference-list conventions can vary by style.

When should I list all authors instead of using et al.?

That depends on the citation style. For example, APA 7 lists up to 20 authors in the reference list before using et al., while in-text citations use et al. for multiple authors per the manual. Always check the specific edition or journal guidelines.

Can I write "et all" in casual notes or chat?

Readers may understand it, but it's a misspelling. Use "et al." even in casual contexts when referring to authors - it looks more professional and avoids confusion.

How do I punctuate et al. with commas and parentheses?

Narrative: Smith et al. (2020) showed... Parenthetical: (Smith et al., 2020). Place commas before the year in parenthetical citations if your style requires them.

Will grammar checkers catch "et all"?

Many grammar and citation tools flag "et all" and suggest "et al.," but always verify the full citation (author order, year placement, commas) against your required style.

Need to check a sentence quickly?

Run a quick find-and-replace for common misspellings ("et all", "etal", "et.al") and then verify each replacement against your style guide. A grammar or citation checker can catch many careless variants and show the correct form as you edit.