Meaning & use
follow the procedure
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
to do the official steps in the correct order that a rule or system requires.
Grammar: Often used without an object: You must follow the procedure. It can take a modifier: follow the correct procedure.
Patterns
- follow the procedure for something
- follow the correct procedure
- follow the procedure carefully
Staff must follow the procedure for reporting accidents.
If you follow the procedure carefully, the machine will not break.
The doctor did not follow the procedure, so the test results were invalid.
Common combinations
- follow the correct procedure
- Please follow the correct procedure when you apply for a visa.
- follow the procedure exactly
- The recipe says to follow the procedure exactly.
- fail to follow the procedure
- The company was fined because it failed to follow the procedure.
- follow the safety procedure
- All visitors must follow the safety procedure in the lab.
Synonyms and how they differ
- obey the rules
- This is about rules in general, not a set of steps, so it is less specific than follow the procedure.
- go through the process
- This means doing the steps, but it does not suggest you are obeying an official rule.
Opposites
Word family
- procedure noun
- a set of official steps for doing something.
- procedural adjective
- relating to the official way of doing something.
Commonly confused: follow the procedure or process?
follow the procedure vs process
A process is a series of natural or general steps; a procedure is usually a fixed, official set of steps that you must follow.
Practice
Before you start the experiment, you must ______ the procedure.
Choose one answer.
'Follow' is the correct verb for obeying official steps. 'Do' is too general and 'make' and 'take' do not collocate with 'procedure' in this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “follow the procedure”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.