Meaning & use
personal assistant
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person employed to help one manager with office work such as organizing meetings, keeping records, and dealing with messages.
Grammar: Countable: one personal assistant, two personal assistants. Often followed by 'to' and the person's name or title.
Patterns
- personal assistant to someone
- work as a personal assistant
- someone's personal assistant
She works as a personal assistant to the finance director.
His personal assistant books all his flights and hotels.
They are looking for a personal assistant with good computer skills.
nouncountablecomputing
A program or device that helps a user by answering questions, managing schedules, or doing simple tasks.
Grammar: Countable, used especially in computing and technology. Often preceded by 'digital' or 'virtual'.
Patterns
- a digital personal assistant
- use a personal assistant
- ask a personal assistant
Many phones now include a personal assistant that can set alarms for you.
The company is developing a personal assistant for busy doctors.
You can ask your personal assistant to read your messages aloud.
Word forms
| plural | personal assistants |
|---|
Common combinations
- work as a personal assistant
- She worked as a personal assistant before she became a manager.
- personal assistant to the director
- He is personal assistant to the director of the hospital.
- hire a personal assistant
- The firm hired a personal assistant to handle the paperwork.
- digital personal assistant
- A digital personal assistant can remind you about appointments.
- personal assistant duties
- Her personal assistant duties include answering the phone and taking notes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- secretary
- A more traditional word for someone who does office tasks; it can sound a little old-fashioned and may suggest less responsibility than 'personal assistant'.
- PA
- The short form used mainly in British English; it means the same job but is informal and common in speech.
- aide
- Often used for someone who helps a politician or military leader; it can sound more official or political than 'personal assistant'.
Commonly confused: personal assistant or personal care assistant?
personal assistant vs personal care assistant
This is a different job: a personal care assistant helps someone with washing, dressing, or moving, usually in health care, not with office work.
Practice
She works as a personal assistant ___ the head of marketing.
Choose one answer.
'Personal assistant to' is the usual pattern before a person's title or name. 'For' can be used in a general way ('I work for a big company'), but with a specific person you say 'personal assistant to'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “personal assistant”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.