Academic English #24. Have come a long way: making great progress

"Have come a long way" literally means "to have come a long distance," but in English it is often used to mean that a person, thing, research, technology, and so on has made major progress or improvements compared with the past.

This expression is widely used in various contexts, such as personal growth, scientific progress, and the evolution of teamwork, and it is especially useful for emphasizing positive change in academic presentations, paper introductions, corporate presentations, and more.

5 example sentences

1. We have made tremendous progress compared with when we first proposed the theory.

We've come a long way since we first proposed the theory.

2. This technology was in its early stages just 10 years ago, but now it is being used in real clinical practice.

This technology has come a long way from where it was just a decade ago.

3. Our team started out modestly, but now it has become an internationally recognized research group.

Our team has come a long way from its humble beginnings to becoming an internationally recognized research group.

4. The field of artificial intelligence has made remarkable progress in recent years.

Artificial intelligence has come a long way in the past few years.

5. Personalized treatment methods were unimaginable in the past, but we are now at the threshold of them.

Personalized medicine has come a long way—it’s no longer a dream but a near reality.