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to making progress

to making progress

251 2.8
Getting better at a task or skill you are working on
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : progresar
  • But slowly but surely we are making progress bit by bit.
  • make significant progress
  • make steady progress
  • make much progress

So yeah, resistance is not a way to make progress, right, right.

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Examples

  • You know, I believe we're making progress.

  • After a few weeks, you will notice that you are making progress in your studies.

  • I thought, I think we are making a little progress on that front.

  • With every session, you are making good progress.

  • I thought we were making progress.

  • Oh, we're making great progress!

  • If that is the case, students may be making similar progress and learning similar things.

    Academic text (2013)
  • I will say that the young man is making excellent progress, which just goes to show.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Teachers described him as making strong progress during the year of this study.

    Academic text (2013)
  • I know it doesn't feel like it, but we're making progress.

Synonyms

to work
vsto making progress
1.0

To move forward slowly while making steady progress

describes the same outcome but not necessarily the effortful process
to push forward
vsto making progress
19 3.1

To keep making progress despite problems

is neutral about obstacles and does not imply determination
to make headway
vsto making progress
9 3.5

To make slow progress when it is difficult

is used more generally, not only for slow difficult gains
to move the chains
vsto making progress
  • Informal
1 7.6

To make steady progress toward a goal by taking small needed steps

is the broader action not limited to staged goal advancement
advancing
vsto making progress
3.4

Moving forward or making progress slowly and steadily

is the same idea but expressed as an action phrase
improving
vsto making progress
1.4

Becoming better over time

focuses more on forward motion than only quality change

Antonyms

557 1.3

Not reaching what was planned or expected

regression
  • Specialized
17 7.6

A return to an earlier, less developed state in behaviour or skills

1 6.5

Still water that does not move in pipes or lakes, causing poor quality

How Much

breakthrough
242 3.9
to making progress
251 2.8
dead end
91 3.6

Surface Forms

making progress infinitive
made progress past participle
making progress present participle
makes progress third person singular

Morphology

making + progress

The meaning 'advancing or improving' is directly and compositionally derived from 'making' (causing or producing) + 'progress' (forward movement or improvement); the phrase simply describes causing progress. This is a common, cross-linguistic combinatory pattern and follows standard English verb + noun gerundal constructions, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

The phrase making progress comes from the simple image of moving forward: making small steps and progress as you go along a path. So it means 'moving forward' or 'improving' in a task.