Meaning & use
interpersonal skills
Last updated
Meanings
nounplural
The abilities that help you talk and work well with other people.
Grammar: Used as a plural noun with a plural verb: Interpersonal skills are important in this job.
Patterns
- good/strong interpersonal skills
- develop interpersonal skills
- interpersonal skills for something
Her interpersonal skills make her popular with both customers and coworkers.
The course teaches interpersonal skills such as listening and giving feedback.
He has strong technical knowledge but weak interpersonal skills.
nounpluralbusiness
These abilities considered as a quality employers look for in a worker.
Grammar: Often appears in lists of job requirements after words like excellent or proven.
Patterns
- excellent interpersonal skills
- proven interpersonal skills
- require interpersonal skills
The advertisement asks for excellent interpersonal skills and a driving license.
Nurses need proven interpersonal skills because they deal with frightened patients.
Our training program focuses on interpersonal skills for new managers.
Common combinations
- strong interpersonal skills
- She was hired mainly for her strong interpersonal skills.
- develop interpersonal skills
- Volunteering is a good way to develop interpersonal skills.
- interpersonal skills training
- All new staff attend two days of interpersonal skills training.
- lack interpersonal skills
- Brilliant scientists sometimes lack interpersonal skills.
- interpersonal skills gap
- The report found an interpersonal skills gap among young graduates.
Synonyms and how they differ
- people skills
- More informal and slightly warmer; it fits everyday speech better than the businesslike interpersonal skills.
- communication skills
- Narrower: it covers speaking, writing and listening, but not things like patience or teamwork.
- social skills
- Often used about everyday life and children rather than the workplace, and it can suggest manners.
Opposites
Word family
- interpersonally adverb
- In a way that involves relations between people, as in interpersonally demanding work.
Commonly confused: interpersonal skills or intrapersonal skills?
interpersonal skills vs intrapersonal skills
Intrapersonal is about understanding yourself; interpersonal is about dealing with other people. The prefixes inter- (between) and intra- (within) are the clue.
Practice
The job advertisement says the company is looking for someone with excellent ______.
Choose one answer.
The phrase is a fixed plural noun, so 'interpersonal skills' fits after 'excellent'. 'Interpersonal skill' in the singular sounds like one single ability and is much less common in this hiring context, and the other two options are not grammatical noun phrases.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “interpersonal skills”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.