Conversational Writing: Persons

Writing Tip Wednesdays September 14, 2026

Buried deep in the NCEH/ATSDR Clear Writing Assessment User Guide is a small but important section that should get a lot more attention. It’s called “Write like you speak (when appropriate),” and it contains a great quote that applies to so many of us at CDC:

“Smart, highly educated people have a hard time giving themselves permission to write less formally. Formal writing leaves just a tiny space for your voice, but writing like you talk reveals your voice and brings your words to life.”

This WTW series will explore the “conversational writing” concept, one word at a time. We want to stress that there’s nothing wrong with these words and examples—they can just keep your writing from flowing as naturally as it could.

This week’s word is persons.

In scientific writing, you will often need to use words—sometimes many, many words—that would never come out of your mouth in everyday conversation. However, you should also take every opportunity, no matter how small, to make your writing flow more naturally. One easy place to start is saying people instead of persons.

To be clear, persons isn’t wrong; it’s just outdated. It’s widely accepted in legal writing, and we can see how persons might seem more scientific or professional than people, but it just isn’t necessary. Our job is to write for the reader, not for ourselves.

There used to be a clearer boundary between persons and people. The CDC Style Guide (which was last updated in 2003) states, “The plural of person is persons, not people. People refers to a group of persons who share particular characteristics (the American people).” The style guide clearly prefers persons, using it in no fewer than 20 example sentences. Its entry for “people, persons,” however, does acknowledge that “some critics consider that persons is pedantic and stodgy and that people is the plural of person.”

The Writer-Editor Services team agrees with the “pedantic and stodgy” assessment. We prefer people, as does the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), our backup agency resource. “One might have once referred to the people at the grocery store but the two persons ahead of me in line,” CMOS states. “Today, people is usually considered to be the more natural choice for both and can be used just about anywhere the plural is called for.”

And here’s Merriam-Webster (“America’s Most Trusted Dictionary”): “For references to groups of a specific or general number, either people or persons may be used, but today people, rather than persons, is generally recommended, especially for countable groups.” MS Word, interestingly, also flagged every instance of persons in this article.

So, give it a shot. The next time you want to write about persons who took a survey or live in a certain county, switch it to people. It’s a quick way to make your writing just a little more accessible.

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