It is equivalent to the Airman of the Air Force and the Apprentice Seaman of the Navy and Coast Guard.

All private enlistees can be promoted directly to lance corporal should they meet the minimum qualifying requirements, conduct appraisal and work performance.

The equivalent ranks in the Royal Canadian Air Force are Aviator (Basic), and Aviator (Trained) Canadian Army Privates (Trained) may be known by other titles, depending on their personnel branch and their regiment's tradition: In the South African Army the lowest enlisted rank is Private.

In the British Army, a private (Pte) equates to both OR-1 and OR-2 on the NATO scale, although there is no difference in rank.

Many regiments and corps use other distinctive and descriptive names instead of private, some of these ranks have been used for centuries; others are less than 100 years old.

The insignia is a simple black mark or the simplified version of the Royal Military Academy's coat of arms for candidate officers.

The Finnish equivalent rank is sotamies (literally "war man"), although since 1973 this has been purely a paper term as all infantry troopers were renamed as jääkäri troops, previously reserved only to mobile light infantry.

As in the British army, the various branches use different names: In the Finnish Air Force, the basic rank is lentosotamies ("airman").

In the Finnish Navy, the basic rank is matruusi ("seaman") or tykkimies ("artilleryman") in the marine infantry.

In the French army, soldat de seconde classe is the lowest military rank.

The name of the lowest rank in the Hungarian army (Magyar Honvédség) is the honvéd which means "homeland defender".

After basic training the soldier is upgraded (rather than promoted) from recruit to private 2 star (Pte 2*) (saighdiúr singil, 2 réalta).

After more corps-specific training (usually lasting eight weeks) the soldier is upgraded to private 3 star (Pte 3*) (saighdiúr singil, 3 réalta).

In the Royal Netherlands Army, the Landmacht, the equivalent ranks are soldaat (soldier), similar to the original French, with different classes: Depending on where the soldaat serves, he may be deemed a kanonnier (gunner in the artillery), huzaar (hussar in the cavalry) or fuselier (rifleman in the rifles) as well as commando, jager (hunter) or rijder (rider).

A PV1 wears no uniform rank insignia; since the advent of the Army Combat Uniform (ACU), the slang term "fuzzy" has come into vogue, referring to the blank velcro patch area on the ACU where the rank would normally be placed.

The second rank, "private (E-2)" or PV2, wears a single chevron, known colloquially as "mosquito wings".

The abbreviation "Pvt" may be used whenever the specific grade of private is immaterial (such as in tables of organization and equipment).

A Marine Corps private wears no uniform insignia and is sometimes described as having a "slick sleeve" for this reason.