Writing 1 IELTS

Describing Trends
In IELTS writing task 1 you may have to describe trends. This may come up in a line graph, bar
chart or when comparing more than one chart.
There are two main grammatical structures we can use to describe trends.
1. There + be + adj. + noun + in + noun phrase
Example:
There was a gradual rise in the price of oil.
There has been a sharp drop in the price of oil.
Possible adjectives
 gradual
 moderate
 modest
 sharp
 dramatic
 slight
 steep
 steady
 significant
 considerable
 rapid
Possible nouns:
 variation
 decline
 decrease
 dip
 drop
 fall
 peak
 fluctuation
 growth
 increase
 rise
 slump
2. Noun phrase + verb + adverb

Example:
The price of oil rose gradually.
The price of oil has risen dramatically.
Possible verbs:
 rise
 jump
 grow
 climb
 increase
 rocket
 fall
 drop
 decline
 decrease
 go down
 plummet
 plunge
Possible adverbs:
 gradually
 moderately
 modestly
 sharply
 dramatically
 slightly
 steeply
 steadily
 significantly
 considerably
 rapidly
 slowly
Describing Increases and Decreases
When describing any of the charts in IELTS writing task 1, you might have to describe increases
and decreases. There are three main ways you can describe increases and decreases.
1. Noun phrase + verb + adverb
Example:
The price of property fell sharply
The percentage of homes dropped dramatically.
2. There + be + noun + in + noun phrase
Example:
There was a fall in literacy levels.
There has been an increase in the cost of coffee.
3. Using fractions
Example:
The price of oil halved in less than a year.
The price of oil has halved since July.
By July, the price of oil has halved.
Making Comparisons
IELTS writing task 1 will often require you to make comparisons between data sources, groups
and times. Here are five grammatical structures you can use to make comparisons.
1. More/few/less + noun + than
Example:
Overall, more people preferred public transport than taxis.
2. of one syllable -er + than
Example:
A higher number of people preferred public transport than taxis.
3. More/less + adj. of more than one syllable + than
Example:
Taxis were more popular than public transport.
4. of one syllable -est.

Example:
The highest % of commuters preferred taxis.
5. The most/least + adj. of more than one syllable.
Example:
The least popular mode of transport was buses.
Summarising
IELTS writing task 1 is essentially a summarising task. Your overview paragraph should contain
two or three sentences summarising the main features of the graph. In order to help you do this,
here are some short phrases.
 To summarise, the most marked change is….

 Overall, it is clear….
 Overall, the majority/minority….
 In sum, the most noticeable trend is….
Don’t say ‘to conclude’. This is only for discursive essays.
Tenses
Using the appropriate tenses in IELTS writing task 1 is essential if you want to get a high band
score.
The key is to look at the title of the chart and the information contained on both axes to establish
what time frame is used. This will help you establish what tense you should use.
Example:
 If the time is one point in the past, for example January 1990, then we should use the past
tense.
 If it has projections for the future, for example 2045, we use future tenses.
 It there is no time, we use present simple.
Below are a range of tenses that could be used in task 1. Remember, the tense you use will
depend on the information displayed in the graph. This is not a complete list of tenses and an
awareness of all the English tenses will help you achieve the IELTS score you need.
1. Present Perfect:
We use this tense generally to talk about an action that happened at an unspecified time before
now. The exact time period is not important.
In writing task 1, we use this tense to talk about changes in data that have happened over a period
of time.
Example
The price of oil has fallen by $5 a barrel every week since July.
2. Present Perfect Continuous
We use this tense to show that something started in the past and has continued up until now.
Example
Oil prices have been decreasing since July.
3. Future Perfect
We use this tense to state that something will be finished by a particular time in the future.
We often use it with ‘by’ or ‘in’.
Example
The price of oil will have reached $300 a barrel by 2020.
4. Past Simple
Use this tense to talk about an action that started and finished at a specific time in the past.
Example
The price of oil fell from $150 in Jan 2014 to $50 in Jan 2015.
Approximations, Percentages and Fractions
In many of the IELTS writing task 1 questions, you will have to deal with percentages. This is a
good opportunity to express these percentages in a different way and boost your score. A way of
varying this language is to express them as fractions or proportions.
Remember that you should vary your language as much as possible in order to score high in the
‘lexical resource’ part of the test.
For instance, use approximations. E.g. 49% can be expressed as “nearly a half”.
Below are a range of expressions that can be used to express percentages.

Fractions
73%- nearly three quarters
51%- just over a half
49%- just under a half
32%- nearly a third
3%- a tiny fraction
50%- exactly a half
26%- roughly one quarter
49%- around a half
24%- almost a quarter
77%- approximately three quarters
Proportions
70%- a large proportion
71%- a significant majority
15% a small minority
3%- an insignificant minority

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Describing Trends

1. There + be + adj. + noun + in + noun phrase

There was a gradual rise in the price of oil.

There has been a sharp drop in the price of oil.

2. Noun phrase + verb + adverb

The price of oil rose gradually.

The price of oil has risen dramatically.

Describing Increases and Decreases

1. Noun phrase + verb + adverb

The percentage of homes dropped dramatically.

2. There + be + noun + in + noun phrase

There was a fall in literacy levels.

There has been an increase in the cost of coffee.

The price of oil halved in less than a year.

The price of oil has halved since July.

By July, the price of oil has halved.

1. More/few/less + noun + than

Overall, more people preferred public transport than taxis.

2. of one syllable -er + than

A higher number of people preferred public transport than taxis.

3. More/less + adj. of more than one syllable + than

Taxis were more popular than public transport.

4. of one syllable -est.

The highest % of commuters preferred taxis.

5. The most/least + adj. of more than one syllable.

The least popular mode of transport was buses.

 To summarise, the most marked change is….

Don’t say ‘to conclude’. This is only for discursive essays.

2. Present Perfect Continuous

Oil prices have been decreasing since July.

We often use it with ‘by’ or ‘in’.

The price of oil will have reached $300 a barrel by 2020.

Approximations, Percentages and Fractions

Below are a range of expressions that can be used to express percentages.

73%- nearly three quarters

51%- just over a half

49%- just under a half

32%- nearly a third

3%- a tiny fraction

50%- exactly a half

26%- roughly one quarter

49%- around a half

24%- almost a quarter

77%- approximately three quarters

70%- a large proportion

71%- a significant majority

15% a small minority

3%- an insignificant minority

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