What Is The Past Tense Of Oversee?
The past tense and past participle of “oversee” is “oversaw” and “overseen,” respectively. To remember the past tense of “oversee” as “oversaw,” you can try associating it with the word “saw,” which is the past tense form of the verb “see.”
The past participle of oversee is also overseen. Check out the table below to get more verb forms of oversee:
Base/Infinitive Form (V1) | oversee |
Present Form/3rd Person/Singular Form | oversees |
Past Form (V2) | oversaw |
Past Participle Form (V3) | overseen |
Present Participle/Gerund | overseeing |
How To Pronounce Oversee And Oversaw Correctly?
“Oversee” is pronounced as /ˌəʊvəˈsiː/ in British English and as /ˌəʊvərˈsiː/ in American English.
“Oversaw” is pronounced as /ˌəʊvəˈsɔː/ in the British accent and as /ˌəʊvərˈsɔː/ in the American accent.
You can refer to the table below to be clearer:
Verb Forms | Pronunciation | |
British English language | American English language | |
oversee | /ˌəʊvəˈsiː/ | /ˌəʊvərˈsiː/ |
oversaw
(V2) |
/ˌəʊvəˈsɔː/ | /ˌəʊvərˈsɔː/ |
overseen
(V3) |
/ˌəʊvəˈsiːn/ | /ˌəʊvərˈsiːn/ |
overseeing | /ˌəʊvəˈsiːɪŋ/ | /ˌəʊvərˈsiːɪŋ/ |
How to say “oversee” and “oversaw” correctly? You can watch these videos:
Oversee pronunciation:
Oversaw pronunciation:
What Are The Definitions Of Oversee? How To Use Oversaw?
You can use oversaw as a past tense of oversee to describe an action or event that happened and completed in the past. Below are the meanings and how to use them correctly:
- Supervise or manage a job, project, or activity.
Example 1: John oversaw the construction of the new office building last year.
Example 2: The team leader oversaw the implementation of the marketing campaign.
- To be in charge of how an amount of money is spent.
Example 1: Jennifer oversaw the budget for the company’s annual conference.
Example 2: In 2000, David was the financial manager who oversaw the expenditure of the grant funds.
Exercises
FAQs
What Are The Synonyms And Antonyms Of Oversee?
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
- Synonyms of the verb oversee are: supervise, manage, operate, regulate, handle, control, conduct, govern, run, administer, keep, direct, protect, tend, and guide.
(See the past tense of run here)
- Common antonyms of the verb oversee are: ignore, forget, abandon, disregard, neglect, miss, skim, and pass over.
What Is The Noun Of Oversee?
- The noun form of “oversee” is “oversight.” it refers to the state of being in charge of something.
Example: The committee’s primary responsibility was to have oversight over the organization’s financial matters.
- “Overseer” can also be used as a noun form of “oversee.” It refers to a person who supervises other workers to do their work.
Example: In the plantation, the overseer watches the laborers and maintains productivity in the fields.

His name is Benjamin Essek – The founder of Grammar Wiki. He is an English native speaker and has joined many English classes, learning communities to support other people with this common language as well.