Q&A for How to Use "Etc." Correctly

In written usage generally, "etc." is perfectly fine and it is also fine to write "and so on" and "and so forth". You may like to mix them up if a paragraph would be saying "etc." too many times. In written dialogue, if a character were to say "etc.", spell it as "et cetera", for the full word is always spoken; people don't actually say "etc.".

Yes, there is always a period at the end of "etc." no matter where it appears in a sentence.

Yes, if you say something like: Some animals are mammals, including polar bears, giraffes, elephants, kangaroos, etc.

These are separate expressions. "Et cetera" (etc.) is Latin for "and so on." "Et alia" (et al) is Latin for "and others." "Et al." is most commonly used in a list of people, particularly when referring to the authors of an academic publication. For example, when referring to a scientific research paper, the authors may be cited as "Goodman et al." (meaning the paper was by Goodman and some other researchers).

Yes.

You can spell your company name any way you want, but a period would add clarity. "Etc." is an abbreviation and would normally take a period.

If using "etc." you don't need "and". "Etc." means "and so on". I would replace "etc." with "other" in that sentence, though.

"Etc." means "and so on" or "and so forth." "I.e." means "that is" or "in other words."

Don't use "etc." That would be unhelpfully vague. List all of the specific services you offer. That's good advertising.

If you're talking *about* a word, rather than actually using it, then it's effectively a noun in your sentence and its normal usage rules do not apply. You should always put such a word in quotation marks or italicize it to make this type of usage clear: I quite like "etc." Do we need an "etc.?"

Because "e.g." means "for example," it's usually followed by examples. The use of "etc." at the end of such a list would probably not be helpful to the reader. Additional examples would be more useful.

There is no definitive rule on this point: "e.g." is often (but not always) followed by a comma. It makes sense to use a comma, because "e.g." means "for example," which is always followed by a comma.

The sentence would make more sense and be more informative if you list more than one item before "etc."

It depends on how formal you intend to be. "Etc." could be considered rather informal, because it is a "shortcut" around a more rigorous discussion.

"Etc." is the abbreviation for the Latin phrase "et cetera," meaning "and so on." " "Et" means "and." Therefore, you don't need another "and" in the series of items being named (although it is often used).

It should always be spelled "Etc.", as in Et cetera. "Ect." is an incorrect spelling.

There is no reason to capitalize "et cetera" (unless it comes at the beginning of a sentence, which would be rare).

The only real difference between those two expressions is that "et al" is more commonly used that "in loco parentis." If you're going to italicize one, you should italicize the other, too. Just strive for consistency. ("et al" is often italicized.)

If you've already enumerated the animals, there's no need for the parenthetical comment at all.

Yes, that's an appropriate usage.

Use "etc.?" if the question is part of the quotation. Use "etc."? if the question is about a quotation but is not part of it.

"Etc." is not normally capitalized except at the beginning of a sentence. It can be left uncapitalized (and not spelled out) at the end of a title.

Typically, you should list two or more items before succumbing to "etc." This helps give the reader a better idea of what would count as "etc."

It would be better not to use "etc." within a bullet-point format. You could use the word "including" and a colon immediately before the bullet points, thus implying that the bullet-point list is not all-encompassing, and then you wouldn't need an "etc."

Yes, in this case a period followed immediately by a question mark is permitted.

There is no grammatical reason to repeat "etc." Sometimes it's repeated for dramatic or humorous effect. That's analogous to the expression "and so on and so forth."

That is technically correct. If the double period seems too awkward to you, however, you have the option of adding more information after the parenthesis (especially as what you've written here is not a full sentence).

It's best used after more than one example. You can test the way it looks or sounds by substituting "and so on" for "etc." ("And so on" implies a list of examples.)

The latter could be confusing, so use the former.

Yes, "etc" is always followed by a full stop (period). If it is at the end of a question, you'd insert a question mark after the full stop.