Meaning & use
supervisory
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a noun
Relating to the job of watching over workers or activities to make sure things are done correctly.
Grammar: Used before a noun: supervisory role, supervisory board. It is not usually used after a verb.
Patterns
- supervisory role
- supervisory duties
- supervisory board
She was promoted to a supervisory position last year.
His supervisory duties include checking the quality of each report.
The bank's supervisory board meets every month.
adjectivebefore a nounformal
Having the power to check that rules or laws are being followed.
Grammar: Common in official and legal contexts: supervisory authority, supervisory body.
Patterns
- supervisory authority
- supervisory body
- supervisory framework
The supervisory authority can fine companies that break the rules.
A new supervisory body was created to oversee the industry.
Common combinations
- supervisory role
- He took on a supervisory role after ten years as a technician.
- supervisory board
- The supervisory board approved the budget.
- supervisory duties
- Her supervisory duties take up most of the morning.
- supervisory authority
- The supervisory authority investigates complaints.
- supervisory experience
- The job requires two years of supervisory experience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- managerial
- Managerial stresses planning and running work; supervisory stresses watching and checking it.
- overseeing
- This is the -ing form of a verb and needs a different sentence structure, e.g. 'the person overseeing the team'.
- administrative
- Administrative relates to organizing paperwork and systems, not to watching workers directly.
Word family
- supervise verb
- To watch over work or people and make sure things are done properly.
- supervisor noun
- A person who supervises workers.
- supervision noun
- The act of supervising.
Commonly confused: supervisory or supervisorial?
supervisory vs supervisorial
A rare adjective used mainly in American politics for a board of supervisors; 'supervisory' is the normal everyday word.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'supervisory' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Supervisory' is an adjective and goes before a noun like 'duties'. Options An and D use it as a noun, and B uses it as an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “supervisory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.