Conversational Writing: Sufficient

Writing Tip Wednesdays September 14, 2026

There’s a small but important section in the NCEH/ATSDR Clear Writing Assessment User Guide 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 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—it’s just that they can keep your writing from flowing as naturally as it could.

This week’s word is sufficient.

Example: The information was insufficient to eliminate the exposure pathway.

For your consideration: There wasn’t enough information to eliminate the exposure pathway.

Example: We determined that sufficient data were available to accept the petition.

Note: We appreciate that this sentence uses active voice, and at least it doesn’t start with the dreaded “It was determined.”

For your consideration: We determined that there were enough data available to accept the petition.

Even better? We determined that we had enough data to accept the petition.

So, the next time you want to write sufficient, check if it makes sense to swap it with enough. Of course, it won’t always work. Sometimes sufficient is the best word for the situation. “The data were not of sufficient quality” could be referring to a specific scale or benchmark that wasn’t reached. Enough doesn’t make sense in this case, but try it sometime—it might give your writing a little more life.