How to Say ‘Make Progress’ in Portuguese: Progredir and Melhorar — Practice

Use progredir for making progress

Progredir means to make progress or advance. It is a useful verb for development over time, including learning a language. In conversation, melhorar may sound simpler and more personal.

Use melhorar to say you are getting better

Melhorar means to improve or get better. Say meu português está melhorando to describe a continuing change, or melhorei muito to look back at progress already made.

Describe small, measurable progress

To name a small improvement, say avancei um pouco or já consigo…. This focuses on a skill you can now perform, rather than claiming complete fluency.

Remember: Use progredir or avançar for progress over time, and melhorar for getting better at a skill.

Check your understanding

Choose the English meaning of each Portuguese example. Answer before looking back at the tables. These questions check the written examples in this guide; they are not a listening or proficiency test.

Recall the Portuguese, then say it

Read the English prompt and say a Portuguese version before opening the answer. The answer shows the example from the lesson; other natural translations may also work. Compare the meaning and the situation rather than counting a different word as automatically wrong.

1. I’m making progress in understanding spoken Portuguese.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Estou progredindo na compreensão do português falado.

2. The project made a lot of progress this week.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   O projeto progrediu bastante esta semana.

3. My pronunciation is gradually getting better.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Minha pronúncia está melhorando aos poucos.

4. I’ve improved a lot since the first lesson.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Melhorei muito desde a primeira aula.

5. I can now understand the main idea without subtitles.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Já consigo entender a ideia principal sem legenda.

6. I made a little progress in reading this week.

   Show a Portuguese answer

   Avancei um pouco na leitura esta semana.

Make the phrase useful to you

Choose one example you could actually use. Say it once from memory, then change one detail that fits your life, such as the person, place, time, or object. Check whether your change also needs a different verb form, article, or adjective ending. If it does, compare it with the pattern in the explanation.

Use progredir or avançar for progress over time, and melhorar for getting better at a skill.

Return to two prompts tomorrow without opening the answers first. If a phrase still feels difficult, shorten it to a useful chunk and build the complete sentence again.

Sources and your next lesson

This I Speak Portuguese practice guide builds on our How to Say ‘Make Progress’ in Portuguese: Progredir and Melhorar lesson on Real Life Portuguese, with written recall tasks and additional speaking practice. The explanations and examples are teaching material; the practice questions are exercises, not a transcript of a recording.

To add Brazilian audio to your routine, choose a lesson in the Real Life Portuguese app. The app offers its own lessons and practice; this page does not imply that every example here has an app recording.