“DESCRIBING TRENDS”

In business and everyday English we sometimes have to describe changes in

trends (movement or tendency). In the business context, we may have to
describe trends in reports, meetings, and presentation for any subject
because things change all the time.

Describing trends generally consists of four parts, they are a movement

(upward, downward, horizontal), a speed or size of the movement, time, and
the reason of the change.

A.The Movement

Some verbs which indicate an upward movement.

To rise, rose, risen, rising

To go up
To recover
To improve
To ascend
To pick up
To increase /d
To reach a peak

The demand of shoes rose last month./ went up, / increased,/

The demand of shoes is rising right now.
The demand of shoes has risen since last month.
The demand of shoes rises every June.
The price of rice has risen since last December.

Some verbs indicating an downward movement.

To fall
To decline
To decrease
To drop
To descend
To deteriorate
To hit a low
To plunge
To plummet
To go down

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Some verbs indicating horizontal movement.

To remain stable / constant

To stabilize
To stay the same

To even out
To level off

Some verbs indicating up and down movement.

To fluctuate
To flutter
To undulated

( Find the second and third form of the verbs)

(fall – fell – fallen), (climb – climbed – climbed), (rise – rose – risen)

(even out – evened out), (decline – declined), (recover – recovered)
(decrease – decreased), (drop – dropped), (improve – improved)
(deteriorate – deteriorated), (level off – levelled off), (slipped back)
(remained stable), (increased), (reached a peak), (bottomed up)
(stayed) (stood)

B. The Rate and Size of Change

Words that describe speed / rate of change (a fast, medium, slow change)

Rapid rapidly ( to decrease rapidly )

Slow slowly ( to increase slowly)
Sudden suddenly
Steady steadily
Gradual gradually
Fast fast

Words that describe size of change ( a small, medium, large change)

Noticeable noticeably
Substantial substantially /fundamentally
Considerable considerably / very (to rise considerably)
Slight slightly

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Significant significantly
Dramatic dramatically
Negligible negligibly

Graphs give a clear picture of trading performance and other statistical

information. Choose words from the list at the bottom of the page to describe
each of these graphs.

e.g. 1 = turnover remained constant

… rose sharply … increased gradually … declined sharply
… fell gradually … fluctuated … leveled off
… reached a peak

Turnover remained constant. (graph 1)

Turnover remained stable.
Turnover stabilized.

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Turnover stayed the same.

Profits declined sharply. (graph 2)

There was a sharp decline in profits.
Profits fell fast.
(There was a fast fall in profits )

Profits decline sharply

There is a sharp decline in profits.

Profits have declined sharply.

There has been a sharp decline in profits.

Sales fell gradually. (graph 3)

There was a gradual fall in sales.
Sales decreased slowly.
(There was a slow decrease in sales)

Costs reached a peak. (graph 4)

Costs reached the highest point.

Demand rose sharply. (graph 5)

There was a sharp rise in demand.
Demand improved quickly.
(There was a quick improve in demand)

Overheads leveled off. (graph 6)

Overheads evened out.

Prices fluctuated.(graph 7)
Prices undalated.
Prices were up and down.

Other examples.

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 Turnover has increased rapidly.
There has been a rapid increase in turnover.

Output fell gradually.

There was a gradual fall in output.

Turnover has increased noticeably.

There has been a noticeable increase in turnover.

Cost declined significantly.

There was a significant decline in cost.

An adjective describes a noun (a thing)

An adverb describe a verb (an action)

PRACTICE
Describe changes that have taken place in recent years in your organization /
company. Consider : “profits, number of employees, range of products, raw material
prices, volume of production, staff working hours”.

The number of employees decreased slowly.

There was a slow decrease in the number of employees.

Raw material prices are going up suddenly.

There is a sudden going up in raw material prices.

Volume of production has remained stable.

C. The Time

a. At the beginning of the year.

b. At the end of the year.
c. a few minutes ago.
d. the last two hours.
e. In the middle of the month.
f. The first week of July.
h. In 2009, in November, at five, on Thursday evening, on Tuesdays
i. between … and …. At night, at noon
j. from …. to …
k. over

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For example :
There was a steady rise in sales in January and the first half of February, then
they fell to 1,000 units in mid March.

(Sales rose steadily in january, and the first half of february, then there was a
fall as many as 1,000 units in the middle of March )

Sales rose for the first six weeks of the year, decreased substantially, and there
was a trough in mid March.

(There was a rise in sales in January, and a substantial decrease, and sales
declined sharply in the middle of March)

DIALOG
Look at the graph below of actual and predicted sales of different items based on
an index of 100 for each item in 1986. The sales of some goods are changing
because of people having a healthier lifestyle.
Which line on the graph represents which item in the list below ? Write the letter
from the graph next to the item which you think it represents.

1. butter 3. olive oil 5. beef

2. wine 4. mineral water 6. cigarettes

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In April 2009 the case of DBD stayed / stood at number of 311 cases.
Then the number decreased gradually until the end of May, and over
the next two months, the number of cases rose sharply for 390 cases
/ the number of cases reached a peak. And from July to October, the
number of DBD cases fell substantially. Between October and
November in 2009, the cases increased slightly with the number of
178 cases.

Maria Carmen Carrera is a journalist working for Business Europe Magazine. She
is researching an article on how the trend in a healthier lifestyle is affecting
companies in Europe. Here she is talking to George Whitehead, the marketing
director of Beetam, a major chain high-street supermarkets in the UK. He is
describing the way sales of certain items changing in 1992.

Carmen : People have a much healthier lifestyle nowadays. Is this trend affecting
your business at all ?
George : Oh, definitely, yes. We’re finding that sales of some of our goods are
changing dramatically, so we’re being very careful about our purchasing
policies with regard to certain lines.
Carman : Can you give me some examples ?
George : Yes, take sales of butter. People know that animals fats are related to
heart disease so butter sales are falling dramatically. On the other hand,
sales of olive oil are increasing steadily.
Carman : what about meat ?

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George : Yes, well, people are certainly eating red meat. Sales of beef, for
example, are decreasing, but only slightly. Drink is another area which is
changing. People have been buying much more wine over the past few
years but wine sales are leveling out now. They are drinking less alcohol
and they need a substitute. So sales of mineral water are rising
dramatically at the moment.
Carman : what about smoking ? Are you selling fewer cigarettes ?
George : Well, that’s a surprise really. While fewer older people are smoking,
more younger people, particularly young women, are smoking more, so
cigarette sales are staying steady.

A Sales Report

The report about the first year’s sales of the antibiotic Trioxil 1990-1991

In August 1989 we launched a new antibiotic, Trioxil. In 1990 sales of the

new product increased rapidly worldwide and today stand at over 130 million
Swiss francs.
In Japan sales were slow at the beginning of the year because we had
problems with distribution. In May we reached an agreement with a new
distributor and the situation improved. Sales over the year rose by 24% to
18.6 million Swiss Francs.
In the more competitive U.S. market, sales stayed at their 1989 level due to a
sharp fall in the value of the dollar.
In 1989 Junior Delpol was the best selling children’s antibiotic in the world.
But European sales of the product dropped slightly. So in August 1990 we
launched Junior Trioxil in Italy. In its first six months sales reached 5.4 million
Swiss Francs.

Make questions about the report to go with the answers below.

e.g. When was Trioxil launced ? In August 1989.

1. Why ………. ? Because of distribution problems

2. When ……… ? When they reached an agreement with a new dollar.

3. Why ……….. ? Due to a fall in the value of the dollar.

4. What ………. ? Junior Delpol.

5. Why ………… ? Because European sales of Junior Delpol dropped in 1989.

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 Look at the graph and use these words to complete the sentences.
At the end of until slowly
At the beginning of over rapidly
Between … and … in sharply
Slightly

1. (In) January 1986, sales stood at $ 900 million.

2. (Over) the next 12 months they rose (slightly)
3. But (At the beginning of) 1987 they dropped (sharply) to $ 700 million.
4. They remained at this level (until) the end of 1987.
5. (Between) 1988 (and) 1990 they increased (rapidly) and reached $ 1,250 million.
6. In 1990 they continued to rise, but more (slowly) and (at the end of) 1990 sales
were $1,380 million.

D. Causes and results

To describe causes and results
Explaining causes Describing results
This is a result of … As a result, we will have …
This is because of … It could lead to …
This is largely due to … It may result in …
Owing to … … will be a direct result.
Be the reason for … That’s why … Therefore
Caused … Consequently …
Due to …

For example :
The profit fell due to / because of bad publicity
Sales of sugar increased because it was Lebaran Day. (because of Lebaran day)
Sales rose steeply in April as a result of the spring sales campaign.
The launching of a rival product was the reason for the decline in July.
Larger discounts were introduced in October, That’s why sales pick up in November
The situation improved when we opened a new office in Bandung.

PRACTICE
This trends are visible in many countries in the world today. Are they happening in
your country? If so, why do you think they are happening ? What do you think
caused them ?
Make sentences about each trend, describing how it came about and saying what
the results will be.

For example:
“People are living longer now than they used to. This is largely due to
improved health care and medical advances. As a result, we will have
increasing numbers of pensioners in the population”.

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  People are living longer than they used to.
 Jobless is increasing
 The cost of import is rising
 Public concern about road accidents is growing
 Governments are reducing expenditure on defense
 People are becoming more aware of green issues
 More students are taking higher education courses

Now match each trend to one of the causes and one the results in the lists.

Causes.
a. Improved health care and medical advances
b. Rises in accident statistics
c. Political changes in Russia
d. Currency devaluations
e. The publicity given to the effects of pollution
f. The economic recession
g. The shortage of jobs available for young people

Results
a. Stricter laws on drink-driving
b. An increase in demand for environmentally-friendly goods
c. Inflation
d. A better qualified workforce
e. Increasing numbers of pensioners
f. A decline in the aerospace industry
g. Substantial increases in the costs of unemployment benefits

 Jobless is increasing. This is because of the shortage of jobs available for

young people. It may result in substantial increase in the costs of
unemployment benefis.
 Public concern about road accidents is growing. ........


Read this report on the performance of the Laure Ashley Group. Underline all the phrases
used to describe relationships between causes and their results.

“Company Report”
The strong turnaround in Laura Ashley’s results this year can be attributed
to several factors. One of these was our new simplified management structure

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which led to faster decision-making processes and substantial cost reductions. A
second factor was the increase in sales which resulted from new merchandising
techniques and greater employee involvement.

However, In North America our performance was disappointing. This was

largely due to unsatisfactory margins, brought about by problems with stock
control and distribution. We expect significant changes in next year’s results. Our
new alliance with Federal Express will lead to better information systems and
consequently an improvement in the flow of goods within our supply chain.

Market Trends
Sales of some products are very seasonal. At what time of year would you expect
these products to sell well ? You are going to see a manager talking about
market trends for the sales of ice cream, sun-tan lotion, advertisement.
a. As you can see, sales have risen gradually over the last five years. This
growth is largely due to the record levels of sunshine we have enjoyed in
recent years. This may be a result of global warming and so it could
continue, but climatic trends are difficult to predict. For this reason we
have made a fairly conservatives projection for next year.

b. Sun protection creams and lotions account for the largest part of our
turnover, but after-sun preparations are becoming slightly more
important, as this pie chart shows. The new green and cruelty-free brand
that we launched last year is selling well and this sector will definitely
grow over the next few years to become a significant niche market.

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 c. As you can see, we’ve been able to reduce this budget and still improve
our turnover. Our experiment with TV shots four years ago did not lead to
significantly higher sales. Since then we have been steadily raising the
proportion of spending devoted to press advertising. This enables us to
target consumers with high incomes, who will be more likely to take
holidays abroad.

BUSINESS WORDS
Match these words which the same meaning.
Gradually to have less of something
Stay steady little by little
A ‘perk’ not going up and down
A substitute something which takes the place of something else
To cut down on something which the doctor does to make sure your health
is OK
A check-up something which your company gives you as an extra to the
salary

A small decrease

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