Personal vs. personnel: what's the difference?

The short answer

Personal is an adjective meaning private or individual to one person. Personnel is a noun meaning the people employed by an organization, or the department that manages them. Example: Please keep your personal opinions out of the meeting; contact the personnel department if you have questions about benefits. Not: The personal department handles hiring, since department refers to staff, not something private.

The two words are also spelled differently in a way that trips up many writers. Personal has one n and ends in -al. Personnel has two n's and ends in -el. A frequent misspelling, personel, drops one of those letters and lands between the two correct spellings, which is why it looks almost right but is not a standard word.

• Personal = private, individual (adjective)
• Personnel = staff, employees (noun)

What each word means

Personal describes something that belongs to, affects, or is done by one specific person, as in personal belongings, a personal favor, or personal growth. It always modifies a noun and answers whose or which one. You might discuss personal goals, a personal style, or personal space, and in each case the word signals that whatever follows relates specifically to an individual rather than to a group or institution.

Personnel refers to a group of people who work for a company, the military, or another organization. It can also mean the department that manages those workers, as in Human Resources is sometimes still called Personnel in older or more formal settings.

Both words trace back to the Latin persona, meaning a mask or role, but they diverged over time: personal kept the sense of an individual role, while personnel shifted to mean the whole cast of people filling roles within an organization.

Fixing the personel misspelling

A frequent error is spelling personnel with one n, as in personel; the correct spelling always doubles the n, giving p-e-r-s-o-n-n-e-l. Another mix-up is using personal where a workplace noun is needed. Not: Submit the form to personal. Use instead: Submit the form to personnel.

Personal in a sentence

Personal fits naturally before nouns like assistant, trainer, hygiene, or information. For example: The company protects your personal information under its privacy policy. Or: She hired a personal trainer to prepare for the marathon. Because personal is an adjective, it cannot stand alone as the subject of a sentence the way personnel can.

Personnel in a sentence

Personnel works as a collective noun for a workforce or as a modifier before nouns like file, manager, or record. For example: All new personnel must complete safety training in their first week. Or: The personnel manager reviewed each application carefully. Personnel is usually treated as plural in meaning even though it has no separate plural form.

Remember it

Count the letters: personnel, like a group of personnel, has extra letters, two n's and a final l, just as it refers to more than one person. Personal has a single n because it describes something belonging to a single, individual you.