Practice
Personal or personnel: what is the difference?
Sign in to saveYour personal phone is yours to use. A company's personnel are the people who work there. One extra n changes the meaning from an individual matter to a group of workers.
Choose personal for something belonging or relating to an individual, and personnel for the people employed by an organization.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
personal / personnel /ˈpɜː.sən.əl/ /ˌpɜː.səˈnel/
The short answer
Use personal for something connected with one person. Use personnel for the employees or staff of an organization.
Please keep your personal documents separate from personnel records.
Why it works: Personal describes documents belonging to an individual. Personnel identifies records about staff members.
5 more examples
-
I keep my personal notes in a folder on my desk.
The notes belong to one person, so personal is the adjective that fits.
Not this:I keep my
personnel notesin a folder on my desk. What changes: This suggests notes about employees, not the writer's own notes. -
The museum hired extra personnel for the busy weekend.
Personnel means additional workers for the museum.
Not this:The museum hired
extra personalfor the busy weekend. What changes: Personal is an adjective, so it cannot name a group of workers here. -
She did not want to discuss personal reasons for leaving.
The reasons concern her private situation.
Not this:She did not want to discuss
personnel reasonsfor leaving. What changes: This would point to a staffing matter in an organization, so it changes the meaning. -
All personnel must wear an identification badge.
Personnel refers to everyone working for the organization.
Not this:
All personalmust wear an identification badge. What changes: Personal cannot stand for employees in this sentence. -
The form asks for your personal email address.
The form asks for an address used by you as an individual.
Not this:The form asks for your
personnel email address. What changes: This could mean an address used by a personnel department, not an individual's own address.
Read the full guide
Look at the noun after the word. If you mean a private detail, an individual choice, or something that belongs to a person, choose personal. If you mean a department, records, or workers in an organization, choose personnel.
Start with the meaning
Choose personal when the sentence concerns one person's life, property, opinion, or private situation. Choose personnel when it concerns the people who work for an organization. The spelling is close, but the noun in the sentence usually makes the choice clear.
Personal: a personal decision. Personnel: the personnel at the clinic.
Use personal for an individual matter
Personal is an adjective, so it describes a noun. It often appears with information, belongings, opinion, space, or reason. The word tells you that the thing relates to a particular person rather than to an organization or the public.
Please do not use the office printer for personal letters.
Use personnel for workers
Personnel refers to the employees, staff, or other workers connected with an organization. You may see it in workplace notices, formal reports, and department names such as personnel office. It names a group, even when the group has only a few people.
The airport added personnel at the information desk.
Watch the grammar around personnel
Personnel is already a group word, so do not add s to make it plural. The verb can vary with the sentence and the variety of English, but the word itself stays personnel. If you need to count people, use employees, staff members, or members of staff instead.
The company invited twelve new employees to the training session.
Check the word before you send it
You are writing about information that belongs to a job applicant. Which word fits: Keep the applicant's ___ information private?
Use personal. The information belongs to an individual applicant. Personnel information would describe records connected with employees or staffing.
Before you go
Remember this
Use personal for a private, individual, or belonging-to-one-person matter. Use personnel for the workers of an organization or matters connected with its staff. The extra n is a useful spelling signal, but choose by the meaning of the sentence.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Personal or personnel: what is the difference?"
What is the main difference between personal and personnel?
Personal describes something private, individual, or belonging to a person. Personnel is a collective noun for an organization's employees or staff. A personal email address belongs to one person, while personnel may refer to everyone working for a museum.
I keep my personal notes in a folder on my desk.
Is personal an adjective?
Yes. Personal is usually an adjective before a noun, as in personal notes, personal reasons, or personal information. It can also follow be when you mean that a matter concerns an individual person's life or choices.
I keep my personnel notes in a folder on my desk.
Does personnel mean staff?
Yes. Personnel means the people who work for an organization, much like staff or employees. It is common in formal workplace language, such as personnel records or a personnel office. Use employees or staff members when you need to count people.
The museum hired extra personnel for the busy weekend.
Can I say personnels?
No. Personnel is normally already a collective noun, so it does not usually take a plural s. Write personnel for the group of workers. For individual people, use employees, staff members, or members of staff.
The museum hired extra personal for the busy weekend.
How do you pronounce personal and personnel?
In personal, the main stress is near the beginning of the word. In personnel, the final syllable has the main stress. Listening for that stress difference can help, although the sentence meaning should guide your spelling.
She did not want to discuss personal reasons for leaving.