El personal llegó temprano.

early

Breakdown of El personal llegó temprano.

• llegar: to arrive
• el personal: the staff

Questions & Answers about El personal llegó temprano.

Why does personal mean staff here? I thought personal meant personal.

In Spanish, personal can be:

• an adjective meaning personal
• a noun meaning staff, personnel, or workforce

In El personal llegó temprano, it is a noun, so it means the staff/personnel.

This is a common false-friend situation for English speakers: the Spanish noun personal does not usually mean a person or people in general.

Why is it el personal and not los personales?

Because personal here is a collective noun. It refers to a group of workers as one unit: the staff.

So in standard Spanish, it is usually treated as:

• singular
• masculine

That is why you get:

• el personal
• llegó (singular verb)

not:

• los personales
• llegaron

Also, personales would normally be the plural of the adjective personal, not the noun meaning staff.

Why is the verb llegó singular if the staff is made up of several people?