How To Cite Multiple Pages Mla

So there I was, staring at my laptop screen like it had personally insulted me. I was knee-deep in a research paper about Victorian poetry, and I needed to cite a quote that spilled across three different pages. My brain short-circuited. Do I write pp. 112-115? Or 112, 113, 114, 115? Spoiler alert: I almost got it wrong. That panic is exactly why we’re having this chat.

Let’s be real—MLA formatting can feel like a secret handshake you never learned. But citing multiple pages? It’s actually simpler than you think. And no, you don’t need to list every single page number like a grocery list. Breathe. We’re going to fix this together.

The Big Rule: Hyphen vs. Comma

Here’s the golden nugget: if your source spans a consecutive range of pages, use a hyphen. Think pp. 45-49. But if the information comes from scattered pages—like pages 12, 17, and 22—you use commas: pp. 12, 17, 22. See? Not rocket science. (Though my first draft looked like a toddler wrote it.)

The key is to ask yourself: “Did I read this in one smooth block of pages or jump around?” If you’re citing a passage that runs from page 34 to page 36, you write 34-36. If you’re summarizing ideas from page 8, then page 14, then page 23, you write 8, 14, 23. Easy peasy, right?

What About That Tricky “pp.” vs. “p.”?

Oh, you noticed the detail? Good for you. Use p. for a single page, and pp. for multiple pages. So “p. 42” is one page, but “pp. 42-45” is the range. Pro tip: your word processor will not do this for you. (I learned that the hard way when my professor circled it in red.)

And don’t even get me started on people who write “pp. 101-104” but actually mean “p. 101 and p. 104.” That’s a no-no. If you only used two specific pages out of a range, you need commas: pp. 101, 104. Trust me, your citation style guide is not judging you—but your grade might.

The "Plus" Problem: When to Use a Plus Sign

You’ll sometimes see citations like pp. 45+. This is for when your source has a numbered page, then a bunch of unnumbered pages after. Think of a magazine article that starts on page 45, but the conclusion is on an unnumbered page. That plus sign is your friend. But don’t overuse it—if you know the exact end page, just use the hyphen.

I once used a plus sign for a book chapter that went from page 12 to page 18. My friend looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “Why didn’t you just write 12-18?” she asked. I had no good answer. So now you know: save the plus for actual uncertainty.

Block Quotes and Page Ranges (A Little Nerdier)

If you’re quoting a block of text longer than four lines, MLA says you indent the whole thing. In the in-text citation, you still list the page range: (Smith 45-47). Don’t put the pages inside the block quote itself—put them in parentheses after the period. (I know, I know, rules on top of rules.)

And here’s a sneaky one: if your block quote begins on one page and ends on the next, you still write the full range. So even if the first line is on page 50 and the last on page 51, you write 50-51. No skipping. The MLA gods demand completeness.

What If You’re Citing the Same Source Multiple Times?

Great question—for that, you use a single citation at the end of the paragraph or after the last sentence that uses that source. Don’t list pages every sentence. Just write (Jones 25-28) once, and your reader knows all the info in that paragraph came from those pages. (Your future self will thank you.)

But what if you mention the author’s name in the sentence itself? Then you only put the page number in parentheses: Jones argues that the sky is purple (25-28). Minimalist and clean. I call this the “ninja move” of MLA.

Quick Reference: The Cheat Sheet

You love lists, I love lists, let’s do this:
One page: (p. 12)
Consecutive range: (pp. 12-15)
Scattered pages: (pp. 12, 15, 19)
Plus sign: (pp. 20+)

Bookmark this. Screenshot it. Tattoo it on your arm if you’re committed. (Okay, maybe not that last one.) But seriously, this will save you from the “wait, is it a hyphen or a comma?” panic at 2 AM.

The Final, Honest Truth

No one was born knowing how to cite multiple pages in MLA. Not your professor, not the guy who wrote the style guide, not even the ghost of the librarian who invented it. You learn by doing, and sometimes by messing up. (I once submitted a paper with “pp. 42-42” for a single page. My roommate still teases me.)

So next time you’re staring at that blinking cursor, remember: hyphen for consecutive, comma for scattered, and plus for mystery. You’ve got this. Now go crush that bibliography—and maybe treat yourself to a coffee afterward. You earned it.