Et al. is a commonly used Latin abbreviation in scholarly writing, so most academics know what it means. If you don’t, a dictionary will give you the explanation.
But whether et al. is singular or plural is not always clear, even to experienced writers. An author may use a singular verb after et el.; another author may use a plural verb after et al. Are they both correct, or who is wrong and who is right? To help you understand how to use et al. in a sentence so it’s grammatically correct, let’s look at a few examples.
Et al. and singular verb
If you use Author et al. to refer to the cited work, rather than its authors, put a singular verb after et al.
So, when May et al. (2019) means “the 2012 paper authored by May and others”, May et al. takes a singular verb. To make this clear, consider writing
- May et al.’s (2019) paper shows,
- May et al.’s (2019) study shows, or
- May et al.’s (2019) book shows.
If you write May et al. (2019) shows, it’s not clear whether you mean the paper or its authors (and you made a typo—using shows instead of show). So, your freelance editor may replace the verb shows with show if they treat May et al. as a plural subject.
Et al. and plural verb
When Author et al. refers to the authors of the paper instead of the paper itself, Author et al. takes a plural verb.
- In the samples May et al. (2019) have analyzed (In their 2019 paper, May and others have analyzed)
Based on my experience as a freelance editor, in most academic fields Author et al. as a plural subject is much more common than Author et al. as a singular subject.
So, is et al. used with a singular or plural verb?
Whether it’s correct to write Author et al. has or have, suggests or suggest, or proposes or propose depends on what you mean by Author et al.—the publication or its authors. If you mean the publication, use et al. with a singular verb; if you mean the authors, use et al. with a plural verb. However, to avoid ambiguity, add a word such as paper, study, or book after et al. when you refer to the publication rather than its authors.
Do you need a freelance editor for an academic paper or PhD thesis? Send me a message at editor@languageediting.com.
Related posts:
- Why does it take so long to write a journal paper?
- Is it acceptable to use “we” in scientific papers?
- Do you hyphenate Latin phrases?
Last revised on 30 August 2022
