personally

«personally» in Mova's school dictionary: Used to give your own opinion: Personally, I prefer cats — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adverb (personally)

meaning for a pupil

1) Used to give your own opinion: Personally, I prefer cats. tree →

2) Done by you yourself, not by someone else: The head teacher personally thanked us. tree →

3) As a person, not about your job or skill: I don't know him personally. tree →

4) «Take it personally»: to feel hurt as if something was aimed at you. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday talk «personally» softens an opinion. In stories and news it shows someone did a thing themselves, which makes it special. «Don't take it personally» is said when a rule or comment is not meant as an attack.

examples

• Personally, I think pizza is better than burgers. tree →
• The author personally signed our books. tree →
• I don't know the mayor personally. tree →
• Don't take it personally — the coach shouts at everyone. tree →
• She personally checked every answer. tree →
• Personally speaking, I'd rather stay in. tree →
• He had often watched them flying across the sea, but he had never expected to get to know one personally. tree →

note

Spelled with double l: personal + ly. Not the same as «in person» (being there yourself), though close.

In the corpora

• A dog guarding its own garden or gate is doing a job; its growling is not about you personally.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «personally» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.