Grammar fix

cover the distance

travel a certain distance

to travel from one place to another, especially when talking about how far you go

collocationB1occasional

Hear it in context

Notice where the phrase sounds natural.

It took us three hours to cover the distance between the two cities.travel
During my last holiday, we rented bikes and managed to cover the distance from our hotel to the beach in under an hour.IELTS speaking

Pattern: cover the distance (between A and B / of X kilometers, etc.)

WrongWe covered a long way before lunch.

RightWe covered a long distance before lunch.

You 'cover a distance / the ground' — 'a long way' goes with 'come a long way' (a different meaning).

Patterncover the distance (between A and B / of X kilometers, etc.)

Choose the version that sounds natural in speech.

Stiff We traversed the entire distance on foot.

Natural We covered the distance on foot.

'Traversed' is literary; 'cover the distance' is the natural way to talk about how far you went.

Words that usually travel with it.

Not the same as 'make up the distance,' which means to catch up.