Expressions for IELTS Writing Task 1

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IELTS Writing Task 1: describing a line graph

Useful introductory expressions:

The graph shows / indicates / depicts / illustrates

From the graph it is clear

It can be seen from the graph

As can be seen from the graph,

As is shown / illustrated by the graph,

Example: The graph shows the percentage of children using supplements in a place over a year.

Useful time expressions:

over the next... / for the following... (for the following two months... over the next six months...)

from ... to / between ... and (from June to August... between June and August...)

during (during the first three months...)

Warning!

Per cent is the word form of the symbol %. We can write 10% or 10 per cent. Percentage is the noun form: The percentage of children using supplements. NOT

The percent of children

...

Note!You can use a combination of adjective + noun, or verb + adverb, to avoid repeating the same phrase.

Example: There was a sharp decrease in the numbers. The numbers decreased sharply.

Language for graphs

This exercise focuses on some basic language, which you need to describe graphs. Look at the graph below. Following the graph, there are 25 statements about the data.

	remain (-ed, -ed) unchanged, steady, stable, constant, plateau, fixed/static From January to March the percentage of children using supplements remained fairly static at approximately 10%. The percentage of children taking dietary supplements was relatively stable during the first two months of the year. During the first two months, supplement use remained fairly unchanged.
	fall (fell, fallen), decrease (-ed, -ed), drop (dropped, dropped), plunge (-ed, -ed), decline (-ed, -ed) slight (slightly), steady (steadily), gradual (gradually), gentle (gently), slow (slowly) downward trend It then fell gradually in March. There was a slight decrease in the use of dietary supplements in March. The graph shows a slight decrease in March. Supplement use experienced a steady decrease in March. Supplement use decreased slightly in March.
	fluctuate (-ed, -ed) wildly It went up and down widely over the next two months. It fluctuated for the following two months.
	rise (rose, risen), grow (grew, grown), climb (-ed, -ed), shoot up (shot up, shot up) dramatic (dramatically), sharp (sharply), significant (significantly), rapid (rapidly) upward trend There was a significant increase in the percentage of children taking dietary supplements between June and August. The period between June and August saw a dramatic growth in the use of dietary supplements. Between June and August, the percentage of children taking dietary supplements shot up dramatically. The greatest rise was from June to August when it rose by 22% for two consecutive months from June to August.
	peak (-ed, -ed), reach (-ed, -ed) The percentage of children taking dietary supplements was at its highest level in April. Supplement use peaked at close to 25% in April. It reached a peak of 25% in April.
	fall (fell, fallen), decrease (-ed, -ed), drop (-ed, -ed) dramatic (dramatically), sharp (sharply), significant (significantly), rapid (rapidly) Between August and October, this figure dropped dramatically to 11%. From August to October, there was a drop of 14% in the percentage of children taking dietary supplements. Between August and October, There was a considerable fall in the percentage of children using supplements. This was followed by a sharp drop of 14% over the next two months. Supplement use experienced a dramatic fall between August and October.
	fall (fell, fallen), decrease (-ed, -ed), drop (dropped, dropped), plunge (-ed, -ed), decline (-ed, -ed), reach (-ed, -ed) its lowest point slight (slightly), steady (steadily), gradual (gradually), gentle (gently), slow (slowly) downward trend Between October and December, the decrease in the use of dietary supplements was at a much slower pace than in the previous two months. Supplement use continued to fall steadily over the next two months until it reached its lowest point in December. It fell to a low of only 5% in December.