Progress in English: Collocations, Idioms, and Usage

Level: B2. Reading at B2. The word lists range from B1 to C1 on purpose; frequency scores show which words are common.

Printable: Student activity handout (PDF) | Teacher’s key (PDF)

Progress: Moving Forward, One Step at a Time

Progress plays a surprisingly large role in our happiness. We often imagine that we will feel good once we finally reach a goal, but the joy of arriving usually fades quickly. What tends to stay with us is the feeling of moving forward: understanding something that confused us last week, finishing a task we had been avoiding, or noticing that a skill is getting easier.

Progress is rarely smooth or steady, though. Most journeys have stages. Sometimes we are stuck: we hit a plateau, tread water, or hit a snag that slows everything down. Sometimes we are just starting out, taking baby steps and hoping we are on the right track. Then, often without warning, we turn the corner, make strides, and occasionally even break new ground. Looking back, we realize we have come a long way, even if we still have a long way to go.

This page explores the idea of progress and the language we use to talk about it. You will find word forms, common collocations, useful expressions from “stuck” to “breakthrough,” synonyms and antonyms, interactive activities, discussion questions, and a practice text for shadow reading and typing.

Word Family

Common mistakes

Progress is uncountable. Say make progress or make a lot of progress, not make a progress or many progresses. For one step forward, use an advance or a step forward.
In progress, not on progress. The exam is in progress means it is happening now. But progress on a task is correct: We made progress on the report.
The stress moves. Noun: a PROgress report. Verb: talks are proGRESSing. The same shift happens with REgress (rare noun) and reGRESS (verb).
Progressive has two meanings. A progressive illness gets worse step by step. A progressive party supports reform. Context decides which one is meant.
Progress is not process. The application process is the set of steps. Your progress is how far you have moved through them.

Collocations

Collocations are words that often go together. For a longer list, see progress on OZDIC, a free collocation dictionary.

Verb + progress

Adjective + progress

These describe speed and amount.

Progress + noun

Kinds of progress

Progressive + noun

Preposition Patterns

These patterns use progress as a noun (progress on) or a verb (progress to).

Expressions: From Stuck to Breakthrough

These idioms and phrases describe different amounts of progress, from none at all to something completely new.

Stuck

No movement, or a sudden problem

Starting out

Small, early steps

Moving forward

Steady improvement

Big leaps

Large or new progress

How far?

How far you have come, and how far you still have to go

Synonyms and Antonyms

No synonym means exactly the same as progress. The notes explain the differences.

Synonyms

development (noun): the process of growing or changing into something more advanced.
Describes growth or change; it does not always mean improvement. It can also mean a new event: the latest developments.
Frequency: 5.31 | Rank: 494
Early childhood is a key period for language development.
Translations: 发展 | 発展, 発達 | 발전, 발달 | विकास | تنمية, تطوّر | развитие | desarrollo | développement

Antonyms

regress (v), regression (n) (verb, noun): to go back to an earlier or worse state; the act of doing this.
Stress on the second syllable in the verb: reGRESS.
Frequency: 3.50 | Rank: 14,928 (for regression)
Without practice, skills can regress quickly.
Translations: 倒退, 退步 | 後退(する) | 퇴보(하다) | पीछे जाना | يتراجع, تراجُع | регрессировать, регресс | retroceder, retroceso | régresser, régression

Activity Page

Five activities: Expressions, Collocations, Forward or Stuck, Error Correction, and Fill in the Blank. Open the activity page in a new tab

Speed Challenge

Answer 12 questions against the clock. Every wrong answer adds 5 seconds, and the lowest score wins. Open the speed challenge in a new tab.

Shadow Reading and Typing: One Year of Progress

This short story uses many of the expressions on this page. Use it for shadow reading (reading aloud along with a model) and for typing practice.

A year ago, I decided to improve my English. At first, I made rapid progress. I learned new words every day, and I felt like I was on the right track. Then, after about three months, I hit a plateau. I was studying just as hard, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. For weeks, I was treading water.

Then I hit a snag. I got sick and missed a month of classes. It was a real setback, and I almost gave up. My teacher told me to take baby steps instead of trying to do everything at once. So I started small: ten minutes of listening a day and one short paragraph a week. It wasn’t much, but it was a step in the right direction.

Slowly, I started to make headway again. I began to track my progress in a notebook, and seeing the pages fill up kept me going. By the summer, I felt like I had turned the corner. My listening got progressively better, and I could finally follow a movie without subtitles.

Looking back, I’ve come a long way. I still have a long way to go, and my speaking is very much a work in progress. But I’ve learned that steady progress matters more than rapid progress. Small changes may not move the needle right away, but they add up.

How to practice

Read the text silently once and check any expressions you are unsure of.
Read it aloud slowly, one sentence at a time. On the typing page, the Listen button reads each line with your device’s voice, so you can listen first and then repeat.
Shadow: read aloud again at a natural speed, trying to keep a steady rhythm without stopping.
Record yourself, listen back, and note one sentence to practice again.
Type it on the typing page below and check your speed and accuracy.

Open the typing practice in a new tab

Quotations

Use these as warm-ups. Read the quotation, then discuss the question.

“Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

George Bernard Shaw, Everybody’s Political What’s What? (1944)

Shaw links progress to being willing to change your own opinions, not only the world around you.
Warm-up: What is one opinion you have changed in the last few years? Was that change a kind of progress?
Translations: 没有改变就不可能进步；无法改变自己想法的人，什么也改变不了。 | 変化なくして進歩はない。考えを変えられない者は、何も変えられない。 | 변화 없이는 진보도 없다. 자기 생각을 바꾸지 못하는 사람은 아무것도 바꿀 수 없다. | परिवर्तन के बिना प्रगति असंभव है; और जो अपना मन नहीं बदल सकते, वे कुछ भी नहीं बदल सकते। | التقدّم مستحيل بلا تغيير، ومن لا يستطيعون تغيير آرائهم لا يستطيعون تغيير أي شيء. | Прогресс невозможен без перемен, а те, кто не может изменить своё мнение, не могут изменить ничего. | El progreso es imposible sin cambio, y quienes no pueden cambiar de opinión no pueden cambiar nada. | Le progrès est impossible sans changement, et ceux qui ne peuvent pas changer d’avis ne peuvent rien changer.

“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability.”

Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail (April 16, 1963)

King argues that progress is not automatic. It happens only when people work for it.
Warm-up: Name something that has improved in your community. Who worked to make it happen?
Translations: 人类的进步从来不会乘着必然性的车轮自动到来。 | 人類の進歩が、必然という車輪に乗ってひとりでにやって来ることは決してない。 | 인류의 진보는 결코 필연이라는 바퀴를 타고 저절로 굴러오지 않는다. | मानव प्रगति कभी भी अनिवार्यता के पहियों पर अपने आप नहीं आती। | التقدّم الإنساني لا يأتي أبدًا محمولًا على عجلات الحتمية. | Человеческий прогресс никогда не приходит сам собой на колёсах неизбежности. | El progreso humano nunca llega rodando sobre las ruedas de lo inevitable. | Le progrès humain n’arrive jamais sur les roues de l’inévitable.

“There is no progress in evolution.”

Stephen Jay Gould, interview in John Brockman, The Third Culture (1995)

Gould argues that species change and adapt, but they do not climb toward a “higher” form. Other biologists dispute how far this is true.
Warm-up: Do you think technology improves steadily, or does it just change?
Translations: 进化中没有进步。 | 進化に進歩はない。 | 진화에는 진보가 없다. | क्रमिक विकास में कोई प्रगति नहीं होती। | لا يوجد تقدّم في التطوّر. | В эволюции нет прогресса. | En la evolución no hay progreso. | Il n’y a pas de progrès dans l’évolution.

Discussion Questions

Your own progress

Do you agree that happiness comes more from making progress than from reaching a goal? Why or why not?
Think of a goal you reached. How long did the good feeling last?
How do you measure your progress in different parts of your life, such as health, study, work, friendships, and money?
What habits stop you from making progress in the things you care about most?
In what ways have you made progress in the past twelve months?
What kind of progress are you most focused on this week? This year?
What is a goal you have had for a long time but never seem to reach? Why do you think that is?
Whose idea of progress are you following: your own, or your family’s? How similar are they?
How much do other people’s expectations shape what counts as progress for you?
How does social media affect the way you see your own progress?
What has helped you make the most progress in learning English?
Does making progress feel different from simply being busy? How can you tell the difference?

Using the language of progress

Have you ever hit a plateau? What did you do to start moving forward again?
Describe a time you hit a snag while working toward a goal. How did you deal with it?
In which areas of your life do you feel you are treading water right now?
When did you feel you had finally turned the corner on something difficult?
What baby steps could you take this week toward a long-term goal?
In what area have you come a long way? Where do you still have a long way to go?
Can a setback ever be a step in the right direction? Give an example.
When have you made rapid progress with something? What made it so fast?
Is it better to make steady progress in one area or some progress in several?
What small change could really move the needle in your daily life?
Who in your life helps you make progress, and who hinders it?
Do you feel you are on the right track with your life goals? What tells you that you are, or are not?
How do you celebrate when you make headway on something difficult?
Name one area where the world has made great strides and one where there has been a lack of progress.

AI Practice Prompt

Copy this prompt into an AI chat tool to practice.

I am a B2 English learner studying the word “progress” and related expressions. Ask me one question at a time. Mix multiple-choice, true or false, and short sentence-writing tasks. Use these words and phrases: make progress, steady progress, hinder progress, in progress, progress toward, progressive, progressively, progression, setback, stagnation, make headway, hit a plateau, hit a snag, tread water, take baby steps, turn the corner, make strides, move the needle, break new ground, come a long way, a long way to go. If I make a mistake, explain it briefly in [your language] and give a correct example in English. After ten questions, tell me which items I should review.

Recommended Resources

The arrival fallacy: why we should decouple our happiness from our goals (Ness Labs). Why reaching a goal often feels less satisfying than we expect, and what to do about it.
The Power of Small Wins (Harvard Business Review, 2011). A study of thousands of workday diaries that links good days to small steps forward. May require a free account.
The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected (Columbia Business School). A short summary of a coffee-card study: people speed up when they feel close to a goal.
The Pattern of Life’s History (Edge). The biologist behind the third quotation explains why he did not see evolution as progress. Challenging but readable.