Difference between Personal and Personnel

An adjective that describes something that affects or is related to a person is "personal," as in "personal financial gain" or "personal goals." The term "personnel" indicates a group of individuals; for example, "the company is asking all of its personnel to review the new social media guidelines."

Difference between Personal and Personnel

Despite having a similar appearance, the terms personnel and personal have separate pronunciations and serve as distinct elements of speech. Primarily employed as an adjective, the first can have several connotations such as "of, relating to, or affecting a particular person" (e.g., "good for one's personal growth") or "carried on directly between individuals" (e.g., "a personal interview"). Employees have a more limited use. The term, which is frequently used in business situations, describes the individuals who work for a company or the division that handles issues pertaining to workers and associated issues.

'Personal' and 'Personnel' Origins

Both come from the Late Latin personalis; however, personnel comes via contemporary French, German, and Mediaeval Latin, whilst personal travelled through Middle English and Anglo-French. When referring to equipment (such as those utilised by a military force), the term personnel was commonly employed in French as an adjective of opposition. The term "men and material," which appeared in some writing during the war, was replaced by the gender-neutral term "personality" around the middle of the 20th century, according to some English language analysts.

It's common to see the terms personnel and personal used in the same phrase, despite their differences:

According to three US defence officials involved with an ongoing assessment of the matter, Secretary of Defence James Mattis is actively contemplating prohibiting US military and civilian employees from carrying their personal cell phones into the Pentagon, the biggest office complex in the world.

- Ryan Browne, CNN, January 31, 2018

When it comes to instances of high-ranking government officials abusing their authority and status-especially in this administration when workers are the most important resource-and using the government's resources as personal servants, Pruitt is the giver that never stops giving.

- Don Fox, cited July 2, 2018, in The Washington Post

Although the functions of personnel and personal are quite clear-cut, usage guides generally advise avoiding conflating the two. It's rare to come across mentions of a business hiring "new personnel" or of someone talking with their lawyer about "personnel information."

'Personal' and 'Personnel' May Be Confusing

When ambiguity can result from two words that can be substituted and still make meaning, the issue may not lie with the writer's use of the words but rather with the reader's perception. For instance, a disagreement between two coworkers might be classified as both a "personal matter" since it involves the connection between the two parties and a "personnel matter" because it impacts the staff. Alternatively, a memo can be appropriate to have in both your employer's and your own "personal file." Although that type of crossover between personnel and personal matters usually only happens in special situations, maybe after reading this you'll remember to keep it in mind.

When to Make Use of Personal

What is meant by personal? The adjective "personal" has two basic definitions. Occasionally, it describes someone's personal affairs, such as when someone refuses to answer a question by saying, "That's personal." It is equivalent to the term private in this meaning.

As an illustration,

Dr. Hildebraand remarked, "I wish Frances would stop sticking her nose into my personal affairs."

Personal can also indicate ownership by a single person. For example, the majority of individuals don't reveal their personal toothbrushes.

As an additional illustration,

Rather of having a lawyer from the company's legal department defend him in court, the CEO will have his own legal representation.

When the word "personal" is used in expressions such as "getting personal" or "personal attack," it denotes an assault on a person's unique character as opposed to the virtues of their deeds or convictions.

As adjectives alter nouns, personal refers to a specific attribute of a variety of nouns, such as in the expressions personal favour or personal mobile phone.

Since no donor, financial, or personal information appeared to have been accessed or stolen, the DNC concluded that conventional espionage, not criminal hackers, was likely responsible for the intrusion. -The Post in Washington

The term "personal" in the example above refers to the details of particular contributors. They are the ones with the information.

How to Pronounce Personal

Finally, when speaking aloud, the word personal has accent on its first syllable, much like the word merciful. Aim to get a person-uhl.

When to Make Use of Personnel

What is meant by personnel? Employees are nouns. It refers to those who work for a company, particularly in military and professional settings.

Military people are referred to as personnel in the military, whilst military equipment is referred to as material.

As an illustration,

Because the labour is unpleasant and frequently dangerous, and because the compensation is too low, our organisation is experiencing a personnel problem.

Minutes after the abandoned station sent out a distress call, military forces arrived on the site.

But if there aren't enough soldiers in the military to operate this technology, what good is it? -The Journal of Wall Street

How to Pronounce Personnel

When the term personnel is said aloud, it is pronounced like the word carousel, with a lot of emphasis on the last syllable. Attempt to listen to Perso-nell.

How to Recall the Difference

The primary distinction between personnel and personal is that the latter is a noun while the former is an adjective.

Personnel vs. Personal Check: You can easily recall whether to use personal or personnel by using their spellings, since both noun and personnel have two Ns.

BasisPersonalPersonnel
MeaningPersonal refers to something that is private and affects one person at a time.The term "personnel" designates the organization's staff or human resource division.
Stresses onFirst syllableLast syllable
Parts of speechAdjectiveNoun

In brief

Is it staff-related or personal? Because of their similar spellings, the words personnel and personal can be confusing. The term "personal" denotes privacy. Human capital is referred to as personnel.

There is never a synonym for these two words: Personal is usually an adjective, but personnel is always a noun.






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