# Suffice it/Sufficed ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffice-it-sufficed/271472>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 27, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffice-it-sufficed/271472 "2004-10-27T16:40:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffice-it-sufficed/271472/1 "2004-10-27T16:40:09Z")

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[This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267933&highlight=suffice) thread questioned whether the phrase is “suffice it to say” or “suffice to say”, with the resolution being that “suffice it” is correct:

> [@](#):
>
> …“suffice it to say” is the same as saying “it suffices that”.

Has anyone else besides me been under the impression that the correct wording is “suffic **ed** (pronounced with 3 syllables) to say”, as in “it is sufficed [i.e. sufficient] to say”?  
Damn, now I’m getting that thing where the word doesn’t look right because I looked at it too much…

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**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffice-it-sufficed/271472/2 "2004-10-27T17:19:35Z")

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> [@alimarx](#):
>
> [This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=267933&highlight=suffice) thread questioned whether the phrase is “suffice it to say” or “suffice to say”, with the resolution being that “suffice it” is correct:
> 
> Has anyone else besides me been under the impression that the correct wording is “suffic **ed** (pronounced with 3 syllables) to say”, as in “it is sufficed [i.e. sufficient] to say”?  
> Damn, now I’m getting that thing where the word doesn’t look right because I looked at it too much…

For what it’s worth, I’ve _never_ heard or seen “sufficed to say”. “Suffice it” sounds to me like a subjunctive - maybe along the lines of “may it suffice to say” or something in more modern-day English.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffice-it-sufficed/271472/3 "2004-10-27T17:48:49Z")

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What **Excalibre** said.

Suffice means more or less “be adequate/enough.” “Suffice it to say,” as mentioned, is equivalent to “Let it suffice to say.” Or, “Be it enough to say” and “Let it be enough to say.”

Grammatically, “sufficed” doesn’t cut it. Something has to be the subject of the verb “suffice.” In the above examples, “it” is the subject. “Sufficed to say” would be like “Was enough to say.” Don’t make no sense. **What** was enough to say?

One could say “It sufficed to say” (sounds odd because it’s not common, but nevertheless grammatically correct), but that’s in the indicative mood, past tense. “Sufficed to say” is incomplete, by itself it’s meaningless.

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**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suffice-it-sufficed/271472/4 "2004-10-27T18:31:45Z")

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OK, thanks. I wonder where I learned this piece of misinformation…? 🙂