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Joe2012 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Regarding the use of these adverbs and diffrence between them.
My question is regarding the usage of the adverbs et al and etc. and their meanings.
I have recently noticed that I have "perhaps" used the adverbs like et al often at wrong places. That is so because by the meaning of adverb et al I used to think "and others". E.g. "it includes WSJ, Times, Economist et al". I was half sure about its usage there. I thought the adverb "etc." can also come there, but I went by the adverb "et al"; thinking that "and others" would be more appropriate. My confusion regarding them increased when I decided to see the "thorough" meaning of the adverb "et al" . From what I have inferred , not sure correctly, is that the adverb "et al" is used mostly with name nouns like Smith, John etc. E.g. "Snoopy, Charlie Brown et al get a new owner"
So, now please explain three things to me. What is the difference between the adverbs "etc." and "et al"? Where should they(et al, etc.) be used? And where can they be used? Thirdly, did I correctly used the adverb "et al" in my e.g.?
PS:Sorry for a bit long-winded post. I wanted to explain my confusion clearly to get a good explanation
. I can't speak succinctly as I don't command over the language.
Regards and thanks for reading and answering.
I have recently noticed that I have "perhaps" used the adverbs like et al often at wrong places. That is so because by the meaning of adverb et al I used to think "and others". E.g. "it includes WSJ, Times, Economist et al". I was half sure about its usage there. I thought the adverb "etc." can also come there, but I went by the adverb "et al"; thinking that "and others" would be more appropriate. My confusion regarding them increased when I decided to see the "thorough" meaning of the adverb "et al" . From what I have inferred , not sure correctly, is that the adverb "et al" is used mostly with name nouns like Smith, John etc. E.g. "Snoopy, Charlie Brown et al get a new owner"
So, now please explain three things to me. What is the difference between the adverbs "etc." and "et al"? Where should they(et al, etc.) be used? And where can they be used? Thirdly, did I correctly used the adverb "et al" in my e.g.?
PS:Sorry for a bit long-winded post. I wanted to explain my confusion clearly to get a good explanation
. I can't speak succinctly as I don't command over the language.Regards and thanks for reading and answering.
Top answer
Hi, That's where Latin comes in handy. et al. = et alii/alia = and other people/things etc.
- Hi, That's where Latin comes in handy.
- et al.
- = et alii/alia = and other people/things etc.
- = et cetera = and (the) other things, and the remainders, and the rest I use " et al.
- " only when citing texts (books, book chapters, academic articles) written by more than two people - just write the surnames of the first two authors, followed by " et al.
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4 Answers
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Hi,
That's where Latin comes in handy.
et al. = et alii/alia = and other people/things
etc. = et c
That's where Latin comes in handy.
et al. = et alii/alia = and other people/things
etc. = et c
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PS: Cambridge dictionary supports my previous post, although in its example it places "et al." after the surname of the first author. Why they do that, I don't know. I am only familiar with the Harvard style of referencing, according to which we use "et al." only when there are more than two authors, and we place it after the second surname, as I wrote in my previous post.
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Tanit, thanks for your reply. It really helped to a certain extend. But, to be honest I can't say for sure I've understood it fully well
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Hi again.
Look, my advice is quite simple: unless you are writing an academic piece of coursework or a scientific article/book AND are citing something that was written by more than two authors, don't use "et al.". Use only "etc." (and not too often!) .
Look, my advice is quite simple: unless you are writing an academic piece of coursework or a scientific article/book AND are citing something that was written by more than two authors, don't use "et al.". Use only "etc." (and not too often!) .
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