Today’s Spanish word of the day is “personal.”
It can be used as an adjective meaning “personal”, or as a masculine noun meaning “staff” or “personnel”.
Although it’s written identically to the English word “personal”, Spanish “personal” is pronounced quite differently, with pure e and a vowels and the stress on the final syllable. In English we pronounce the word something like PUR-suh-nuhl, whereas in Spanish it is pronounced more like pehr-soh-NAHL.
Both the English and Spanish words “personal” come from Latin personalis, meaning “pertaining to a person”.
Example sentences
Necesito mi espacio personal.
I need my personal space.
Como proyecto personal, está escribiendo una novela.
As a personal project, she’s writing a novel.
Quiero preguntarte algo personal.
I want to ask you something personal.
Sus objetos personales fueron encontrados en la escena.
Their personal belongings were found at the scene.
Mi número personal de teléfono es privado.
My personal phone number is private.
