Let’s be honest, sometimes English can be confusing. Sometimes when learning English it is easy to mix up words or be unsure when to use them.
I often hear German speakers who are learning English make mistakes with the words ‘personal’ and ‘personnel’.
Take a look at the examples below. Hopefully they will make things clearer for you.
Personal is an adjective and describes relating to or belonging to someone.
E.g. When leaving the train please ensure you take all your personal belongings with you.
It can also be used to talk about the private areas of someone’s life and can include their feelings and relationships.
E.g. He is stressed at the moment due to several personal problems.
It is also used to describe objects which are designed to be used by just one person. For example we can talk about a personal computer.
It can also be used to talk about your body and looking after your body in the sense of personal hygiene.
Personnel is a noun and is used to describe the people who work for or are employed by an organisation.
In a company the people responsible for finding new employees, maintaining records about the employees and perhaps organising training for the employees are members of the Personnel Department. This department is also sometimes called HR (Human Resources).
Have fun learning English!
Louise