Widen Your Vocabulary for IELTS - Keyword: Progress

Learning collocations with progress is essential for IELTS Speaking and Writing. By mastering verb, adjective, and preposition combinations, you can make your answers more natural and fluent. Below, you’ll find exercises and explanations to boost your lexical resource.

Verb + Progress

When talking about progress, certain verbs commonly collocate with it. These make your language precise and academic, which is valuable in IELTS Writing Task 2 and IELTS Speaking Part 3.

Exercise: Use the correct form of these verbs: bring, discuss, make, follow, hold up, monitor

• At the end of each school term parents discuss their child’s progress with a teacher.
• Since he moved to his new school, William has made a lot of progress.
• I remember my Uncle George took a personal interest in my education. He followed my progress closely and gave me help and a lot of encouragement.
• The British were enthusiastic builders of railways. They believed railways brought progress and civilisation to less developed countries.
• Each student’s progress is closely monitored. We use a system of regular tests to measure their progress.
• Fallen trees are holding up the progress of the rescue workers.

Tip for IELTS: Use “make progress” when describing your learning journey. Example: I’ve made significant progress in my IELTS preparation over the past month.

Common Adjective Collocations with Progress

Adjectives help describe the speed, quality, or extent of progress. These collocations are particularly useful in IELTS Writing when presenting arguments or describing changes.

Exercise: Use these adjectives in sentences: good, disappointing, rapid, slow, real, steady

• We are making slow but steady progress. The job should only take about a day longer than we anticipated.
• There has been such rapid progress in computer technology over the last few years that I can hardly keep up with the speed of change.
• They are having great problems trying to reach the trapped men. Progress is painfully slow.
• Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic on the roads, so we made good progress and arrived with plenty of time to spare.
• The police have made no real progress in the investigation and detectives are now appealing to the public for help.
• No agreement has been reached after five days of discussions. Progress has been disappointing, to say the least!

Tip for IELTS: Try to replace simple phrases like a lot of progress with richer ones such as steady progress or rapid progress for a higher band score.

Expressions with Prepositions + Progress

Prepositions are key to accuracy in IELTS Writing and Speaking. The word progress frequently appears with prepositions such as in, of, on.

Exercise: Complete the sentences with the correct preposition: in, of, on

1. We are frustrated at the lack of progress.
2. Although she’s recovering from her illness, her rate of progress is quite slow.
3. In order to continue your financial assistance, we will need regular updates on your progress.
4. John’s teacher says that his reading and writing is showing signs of progress.
5. Now that the project has started, we will need a weekly meeting to keep a close check on progress.
6. There has not been much progress in the border dispute between the two countries.
7. Political observers noted that there had been a lot of progress on human rights.
8. A concert was in progress in the school hall, so we looked for another room.
9. The college will be closed while maintenance work is in progress.

Note: In sentences 8 and 9, in progress means “happening at the moment.” Example: The IELTS exam was already in progress when I arrived late.

Notes on Usage of Progress

To deepen your understanding, here are some key points about using progress naturally in English:

1. Alternative verbs

In discuss progress (Ex. 1), you could also say review progress.

2. Types of progress

We often refer to economic progress and technological progress:

• The country has made significant economic progress in recent years.
• Technological progress has allowed scientists to build smaller and faster computers.

3. When progress is not always positive

Sometimes “progress” can have a negative impact:

• We are destroying the planet with our technology – all in the name of progress.

4. Expressions for obstacles to progress

Use these alternatives for holding up progress:

• His progress was hindered by his lack of experience.
• The disagreement has hampered the progress of the plan.
• Management indecision is impeding progress towards reform.
• The workers were accused of standing in the way of progress.

Tip for IELTS Writing Task 2: When discussing global issues like technology or the environment, phrases like in the name of progress or hampering progress will enrich your lexical range.

Answer Key

Ex 1: discuss, made, followed, brought, monitored, holding up
Ex 2: steady, rapid, slow, good, real, disappointing
Ex 3: of, of, on, of, on, in, on, in, in

Mastering collocations and expressions with progress will help you sound more natural in IELTS Speaking and more academic in IELTS Writing. Practice using these in your essays and responses to showcase a wider lexical resource. For those aiming for top scores, following the IELTS Exam Preparation Tips for Band Score of 8+ can further enhance your vocabulary and overall test performance.

Also Check: 

• 10 Useful IELTS Speaking Tips to Impress the Examiner
• Grammar For IELTS: Expressions Of Quantity
• Grammar For IELTS : The Common Grammars And Sentence Structures In English (Part 1
• Grammar For IELTS : The Common Grammars And Sentence Structures In English (Part 2)
• Using Contrast in IELTS Speaking & Writing: Advanced Grammar in IELTS
• 100+ Advanced Vocabulary Word List for IELTS (PDF Available)
• Especially vs Specially for IELTS Grammar: Lessons, Examples, Usage & Exercises

Practice these exercises, notice collocations in reading texts, and try using them in your IELTS Speaking responses. Over time, your grammar accuracy and IELTS Band score will improve significantly.