If your source has two authors, MLA wants you to list them both. It’s as straightforward as a handshake. You write the first author’s name Last Name, First Name, then the word "and," and then the second author’s name in normal order: First Name Last Name.
So, if Jane Austen and Bob Smith wrote a paper together (wild, I know), your citation would look like: Austen, Jane, and Bob Smith. See? Simple. It feels like you’re just acknowledging the whole team, not just the star player.
Three or More Authors: The "et al." Shortcut
Now, what if you have a source with three, four, or even ten authors? Listing every single name in your Works Cited would turn your page into a phone book. Nobody has time for that. MLA has a cool little trick for this: you use the Latin abbreviation "et al." which literally means "and others."
Here’s the magic: you only list the first author’s name (Last Name, First Name), followed by a comma, and then et al. That’s it. So, for a book by Sarah Lee, Michael Chen, and Priya Patel, your citation becomes: Lee, Sarah, et al. It’s like saying, "Sarah Lee and her awesome crew."
Isn't that cool? It saves space and still gives credit where credit is due. You’re basically saying, "Look, the main idea came from this lead author, and a bunch of other smart folks helped." It’s respectful and efficient—like a group project where only one person presents, but everyone gets the grade.
