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Vocabulary - Describing Charts and Graphs

IELTS

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121 views6 pages

Vocabulary - Describing Charts and Graphs

IELTS

Uploaded by

mytrinh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Useful Vocabulary for Task 1 – Describing charts and graphs

1. Common vocabulary

Up Verbs Down Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Steady Adjectives

Grow Decline Drastic Drastically Steady

Leap Fall Dramatic Dramatically Constant

Rise Back down Tremendous Tremendously Uniform

Peak Descend Rapid Rapidly Moderate

2. More specific Vocab

A. Adjective & Adverbs

Large Changes:
Small or Moderate Changes:

B. Verbs & Nouns

Upward movement

Downward movement

The following words can be used to describe both upward and downward movements.
The following phrases to describe situations that show little or no change.

C. Collocations

Many of the words in these lists can be formed into collations that are ideal for expressing change.

There are two ways that you can create them:

• Verb + Adverb
• Adjective + Noun
Here are some examples:

D. Other Useful Phrases


Here are a few more phrases that you may find useful.
E. Percentages, Proportions & Approximations

Approximations

Often, numerical data is expressed as percentages and you can use approximations to present this form
of data in a different way. Here are some examples:

3.
4. Further Usages

Up Verbs
Verbs Example
soar the use of water soared in March
leap the prices leapt to 90% in one year
Climb populations climbed to over one million by 1980
Rocket use of cars rocketed in the first decade
Surge a surge of migration is seen in November
Notes:

• “Soar “and “rocket” are both very strong words that describe large rises. “Rocket” is more
sudden. You probably do not need to qualify these verbs with adverbs.
• “Leap” shows a large and sudden rise. Again, you probably do not need to qualify it with an
adverb.
• “Climb” is a relatively neutral verb that can be used with the adverbs below.
Down verbs

Verbs Example
Sink The cost of housing sunk after 2008
Slip back Use of electricity slipped back to 50 in May
Dip Divorce rate dipped in the 60s
Drop A drop in crime can be seen last year
Plummet Tourists to the city plummets after September
Notes:

• “Plummet” is the strongest word here. It means to fall very quickly and a long way.
• “Drop” and “drop” are normally used for fairly small decreases
• “Slip back” is used for falls that come after rises
• “Drop” and “Dip” are also frequently used as nouns: “a slight dip” “a sudden drop”

Adjectives and adverbs

This is a selection of some of the most common adjectives and adverbs used for trend language.
Please be careful. This is an area where it is possible to make low-level mistakes. Make sure that you
use adjectives with nouns and adverbs with verbs:

• a significant rise – correct (adjective/noun)


• rose significantly – correct (adverb/verb)
• a significantly rise – wrong

Please also note the spelling of the adverbs. There is a particular problem with the word
“dramatically:

• dramatically – correct
• dramaticly – wrong
• dramaticaly – wrong

Adjectives of Degree

Adjective Example Adverb Example


Significant A significant change Significantly Changed significantly
Dramatic A dramatic shift Dramatically Sifts dramatically
Sudden A sudden rise Suddenly Has risen suddenly
Substantial A substantial gain Substantially Gained substantially
Sharp A sharp decrease Sharply Had decreased sharply
Notes:

• “sudden” and “sharp” can be used for relatively minor changes that happen quickly
• “spectacular” and “dramatic” are very strong words only used for big changes
Steady Adjectives

Adjective Example Adverb Example


Consistent A consistent flow Consistently Flowed consistently
Steady A steady movement Steadily Moved steadily
Constant Constant shift Constantly Sifted constantly

Small adjectives

Adjective Example Adverb Example


Slight A slight rise Slightly Rose slightly
Gradual A gradual fall Gradually Has fallen gradually
Marginal A marginal change Marginally Had changed marginally
Modest A modest increase Modestly Increases modestly
Notes:

• “marginal” is a particularly useful word for describing very small changes

Other useful adjectives

These adjectives can be used to describes more general trends

Adjective Example
Upward By looking at the five data points, there appears to be a clear upward pattern in prices
Downward Over the past quarter century there is a downward trend in use of pesticides
Overall The overall shift in the market seems to favour the use of nuclear power
Notes:

• “overall” can be used to describe changes in trend over the whole period: very useful in
introductions and conclusions
• “upward” and “downward” are adjectives: the adverbs are “upwards” and “downwards”

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