LexBrew
Confusables Entry 1027 / 1605 60-second read

Personal vs. Personnel

Private versus the staff of an organisation.

The comparisoni

✗ Wrong

“Please contact personal for your HR questions.”

✓ Correct

“Please contact personnel for your HR questions.”

The ruleii

PERSONAL = private. PERSONNEL = staff.

PERSONAL is an adjective meaning private or individual. PERSONNEL (stress on the last syllable) is a collective noun — the people employed by a firm or unit.

Memory aidiii

Remember it like this

PersonneL ends in L — the List of empLoyees.

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