Meaning & use
provisional license
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableBritish
A temporary driving permit that lets a learner drive only under certain conditions, for instance with an experienced driver beside them.
Grammar: Often used with apply for, hold or get: she got her provisional license.
Patterns
- apply for a provisional license
- hold a provisional license
Sam applied for a provisional license on his seventeenth birthday.
You must display L plates if you drive on a provisional license.
She held a provisional license for six months before taking her test.
nouncountable
A temporary permit to practice a trade or profession that is replaced by a full license once requirements are met.
Grammar: Used outside driving too, such as in nursing or teaching.
Patterns
- a provisional license to do something
The nurse received a provisional license while her documents were checked.
A provisional license lets the contractor start work before the final inspection.
Word forms
| plural | provisional licenses |
|---|
Common combinations
- apply for a provisional license
- You can apply for a provisional license online.
- hold a provisional license
- Anyone holding a provisional license must be supervised.
- get a provisional license
- He got his provisional license in the post.
- provisional license holder
- A provisional license holder cannot drive on some roads.
- upgrade a provisional license
- She will upgrade her provisional license after passing the test.
Synonyms and how they differ
- learner's permit
- It is the usual American term for the same first-stage driving permit.
- temporary license
- It focuses on the time limit, whereas provisional suggests a conditional stage before a full license.
- interim license
- It is more formal and common for professions rather than driving.
Opposites
Word family
- provisional adjective
- arranged for now and likely to change
- provisionally adverb
- on a temporary basis
- license noun
- official permission
- license verb
- to give official permission
- licensee noun
- the holder of a license
Commonly confused: provisional license or provisional licence?
provisional license vs provisional licence
This is the British spelling of the noun; American English uses license for both noun and verb.
Practice
Before she can drive without a supervisor, Priya must pass her test and replace her ___ with a full license.
Choose one answer.
The first-stage driving permit is a provisional license. A lease is a rental contract, not a driving permit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “provisional license”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.