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Vocabulary for
Graphs and
Tables -
Writing Task 1

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LINE GRAPH
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph shows thefts per thousand vehicles in four
countries between 1990 and 1999.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the
main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
WRITING APPROACH
OF GRAPH WRITING
TASK 1
Writing task one: single line graph

You will be given a graph with a single line.

Your task is to write a 150-words report to
describe the information given in the graph.
You are not asked to give your opinion. You
should spend around twenty minutes on the
task. Task one is not worth as many marks as
task two and so you should make sure that
you keep within the recommended twenty-
minutes time frame.
What is being tested is your ability
to:

 objectively describe the information given

to you

 report on a topic without the use of opinion

 use suitable language to describe the graph

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the

information in the graph below.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the
main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Line Graph is adapted

 Guidelines for a appropriate
 answer
Does the report have a suitable structure?
 Does it have an introduction, body and conclusion?
 Does it include connective words to make the writing cohesive within
sentences and paragraphs?
 Does the report use suitable grammar and vocabulary?
 Does it include a variety of sentence structures?
 Does it include a range of appropriate vocabulary?
 Does the report meet the requirements of the task?
 Does it meet the word limit requirements?
 Does it describe the whole graph adequately?
 Does it focus on the important trends presented in the graphic
information?
Sample answer
 The given graph illustrates the number of cases of X disease in
Someland between the years 1960 and 1995.
 As an overall trend, it is clear that the number of cases of the
disease increased fairly rapidly until the mid seventies,
remained constant for around a decade at 500 cases before
dropping to zero in the late 80s.
 In 1960, the number of cases stood at approximately 100. That
number rose steadily to 200 by 1969 and then more sharply to
500 in 1977. At this point the number of cases remained stable
until 1984 before plummeting to zero by 1988. From 1988 to
1995 Someland was free of the disease.
 Further, the graph shows that the disease was increasingly
prevalent until the 1980s when it was eradicated from
Someland.
Strategies for improving your
IELTS score
 Selecting information
 It is important that you describe the whole graph fully. However, this does not
mean that you should note every detail. In most cases there will be too much
information for you to mention each figure. You will therefore need to summarise
the graph by dividing it into its main parts. This is what we mean by describing the
trends.
 For example, in a chronological line graph it might seem sensible to describe the
information year by year or period by period. The graph above gives the
information in five-year sections so we could write our report like this:
 The number of cases of X disease started at 50 in 1965 and then went up gradually
to 100 in 1965 and continued up to 200 in 1970 and then went up more sharply to
380 in 1975.
 While this way of describing the information may be accurate, it does not
meaningfully sum up the information in the graph. In fact, the information in the
graph would most meaningfully be described in four chronological sections
following the shape of the graph.
In the Sample Task, the graph shows four
main trends:

 First, a gradual increase from 1960 to 1968

 Second, a steeper increase from 1968 to
1977
 Third, a plateau from 1977 to 1983
 Fourth, a drop from 1983 to 1988
 The structure of the report must show these
four main trends clearly.
 Grammar and vocabulary
 Avoiding repetition
 You will receive a higher mark if your writing uses a range of structures
and vocabulary correctly rather than a limited number. For example,
the candidate who writes:
 The number of cases of X disease started at 50 in 1965 and then went
up to 200 in 1970 and then went up to 500 in 1980 and then went
down to zero in 1990.
 will lose marks for being repetitive. You should therefore practise
writing reports using a wide variety of terms to describe the different
movements in the graphs and different structures to vary your writing.
 Describing trends

 Trends are changes or movements. These changes

are normally expressed in numeric items, for
example, population, production volumes or
unemployment. There are three basic trends:
DESCRIBING UPWARD TREND

VERBS NOUNS

Rose (to) A rise

Increased (to)/ An increase

Went up (to) Growth

Boomed A boom (a dramatic

rise)

Climbed (to) An upward trend

DESCRIBING DOWNWARD TREND

VERBS NOUNS

Dipped (to) A decrease

Dropped (to) A decline
Went down (to) A fall
Slumped (to) A drop
Reduced (to) A slump (a dramatic
fall)
A reduction
 GENERAL CHAGES

VERS NOUNS
Fluctuated (around) A fluctuation
Peaked (at) Reached a peak (of)
Plateaued (at) Reached at plateau (at)
Stood at*
Describing the movement: adjectives and
adverbs

 Sometimes we need to give more information about a

trend as follows:
 There has been a slight increase in the value of the dollar
(degree of change)

Unemployment fell rapidly last year (the speed of change)

 Remember that we modify a noun with an adjective (a
slight increase) and a verb with an adverb (to increase
slightly).
 LIST OF WORDS
ADJECTIVES ADVERB
dramatic dramatically
sharp sharply
huge
enormous enormously
steep steeply
substantial substantially
considerable considerably
significant significantly
marked markedly
moderate moderately
slight slightly
small
minimal minimally
Describing the speed of change

ADJECTIVES ADVERB
Rapid rapidly
quick quickly
swift swiftly
sudden suddenly
steady steadily
gradual gradually
slow slowly
 BAR CHART

 It is common in the IELTS Writing paper to be asked to

describe a bar graph. Bar graphs, also known as bar
charts, are like line graphs in that they have two axes and
are useful for showing how something has changed over a
given period of time, especially when there are significant
changes. Bar graphs consist of rectangular bars, which can
be orientated horizontally or vertically, with the lengths
proportional to the data values that they represent. They
are typically used for comparing two or more values.
Question prompt
 The bar chart shows the divorce rates in two European
countries from 2011 to 2015.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the
main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
 Introduction

 1. You should start your answer by writing an introduction. The

introduction is 1 or 2 sentences, where you paraphrase the information from
your question. You should mention two things in your introduction:
 what your graph shows
 for what period of time
 In our example, the introduction can look like this:
 The bar chart provides information about the percentages of divorces in
Finland and Sweden between 2011 and 2015.
 See how I used synonyms to paraphrase the question:
 shows → provides information about
divorce rates → percentages of divorces
two European countries → Finland and Sweden (it’s good to be more specific)
from 2011 to 2015 → between 2011 and 2015.
 2. General Overview

The second paragraph of your answer is a general overview, where you briefly
describe major trends on your graph. Ideally, you should describe 2-4 key features.
To make major trends easier to notice, you can outline Sweden’s bars and Finland’s
bars like this:
Now it’s obvious that:
 Sweden experienced a downward trend
 Finland experienced an upward trend
 both countries showed fluctuations
 Initially Finland had a lower rate, but in 2015 Finland outraced Sweden
Use word overall to start your general overview. In our case, the overview may look
as follows:
Overall, Sweden experienced a downward trend, while Finland showed an upward
trend throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce rates had some fluctuations.
Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it outraced Sweden at the end of the
period.
 3. Specific details

 After we’ve written the introduction and general overview, it’s time
to give the specific details. You should describe the specific features in 2
or 3 (sometimes more) paragraphs.
 You can group data in such way:
 Details about Sweden
 Details about Finland
 When you have two countries (or two cities or any other two things
depicted on the graph), the simplest way of grouping data - is to describe
each country’s trend in a separate paragraph.
 When giving specific features, you have to write exact
numbers/percentages and include as much details as you can
In our case, the specific details may look as
follows:
 Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland’s rate by
approximately 8%. Then, it rose to almost fifty percent in 2012. However, the figure
showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and continued to decline steadily
to the end of the period, reaching around 45% in 2014 and hitting a low-point of
about 37% in 2015.

Percentage of divorces in Finland was less than 40% in 2011, and it decreased in
2012, when about one third of marriages in Finland ended with a divorce (as opposed
to almost a half in Sweden). However, the figure experienced a steady growth during
the next two years. It rose to approximately 39% in 2013, then increased by around
3% in 2014, and remained steady for the next year, outracing the rate of Sweden.
Tips:
 When analyzing a bar-chart, we cannot always give exact details (due to inaccuracies
of the chart), so use words around, about and approximately when giving inexact
data.
 Give data for each year shown on the chart
 Activity
 Fill in the gaps in this answer with appropriate words.
 The___ provides ___ about the percentages of divorces in Finland and Sweden
between 2011 and 2015.
 _____ , Sweden experienced a downward trend, while Finland showed
an__ trend throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce rates had some
fluctuations. Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it___ Sweden at the
end of the period.
 Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland’s rate
by approximately 8%. Then, it rose to ____fifty percent in 2012. However, the
figure showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and continued to
decline steadily to the end of the period, reaching around 45% in 2014 and
hitting a ____of about 37% in 2015.
 Percentage of divorces in Finland was _____than 40% in 2011, and it decreased
in 2012, when about one third of marriages in Finland ended with a divorce
(as ___to almost a half in Sweden). However, the figure experienced a steady
growth during the next two years. It rose to approximately 39% in 2013, then
increased by around 3% in 2014, and remained steady for the next year,
outracing the rate of Sweden.
 Activity
 t’s the end, we have finally written the answer for IELTS bar chart question. And
now, let’s practice: fill in the gaps in this answer with appropriate words.
 The bar chart provides information about the percentages of divorces in Finland
and Sweden between 2011 and 2015.
 Overall , Sweden experienced a downward trend, while Finland showed an
upward trend throughout the period. Both countries’ divorce rates had some
fluctuations. Although Finland initially had a lower rate, it outraced Sweden at the
end of the period.
 Sweden’s divorce rate was about 45% in 2011, being higher than Finland’s rate by
approximately 8%. Then, it rose to almost fifty percent in 2012. However, the figure
showed a gradual decrease to about 47% in 2013, and continued to decline steadily
to the end of the period, reaching around 45% in 2014 and hitting a low point of
about 37% in 2015.
 Percentage of divorces in Finland was less than 40% in 2011, and it decreased in
2012, when about one third of marriages in Finland ended with a divorce
(as opposed to almost a half in Sweden). However, the figure experienced a steady
growth during the next two years. It rose to approximately 39% in 2013, then
increased by around 3% in 2014, and remained steady for the next year, outracing
the rate of Sweden.
DUAL GRAPH
Question prompt

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The line graph shows visits to and from the UK from
1979 to 1999, and the bar graph shows the most
popular countries visited by UK residents in 1999.

Summarize the information by selecting and

reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Adapted
 APPROACH AND
VOCABULARY
OF DIFFERENT GRAPHS
Upward trend
 Grow / a growth
 Go up
 Increase / an increase
 Rise / a rise
 Climb / a climb
Downward trend
 Decrease / a decrease
 Drop/ a drop
 Fall / a fall
 Decline / a decline
Other vocabulary
 Remain stable
 Dip / a dip
 Remain steady
 Fluctuate / a fluctuation
 Remain unchanged
 Level off
 peak at
 Reach a peak of
 Hit a high of
 Hit a low of
 Bottom out
 plateau
 What do you need to write?

 INTRODUCTION

 BODY PARAGRAPHS

 CONCLUSION
 RECAP OF THE TIPS
 When you state what the graph shows, mention both of
them. Here is a sample first sentence of the introduction.
 Remember to write this in your own words and not to copy
from the question.
 Next you need to mention the key points from the graph.
When you do this, mention the most interesting things
from each.
 If there are two graphs and a lot of information, you will have
to be careful not to describe everything as you may then
have too much information.
 Also, the examiner is looking to see that you can select the
important things and not describe every single detail.
SAMPLE ANSWER
 INTRO- To begin, the number of visits abroad by UK
residents was higher than for those that came to the UK, and
this remained so throughout the period.
 BODY- The figures started at a similar amount, around 10
million, but visits abroad increased significantly to over 50
million, whereas the number of overseas residents rose
steadily to reach just under 30 million.
 CONCLUSION By far the most popular countries to visit in
1999 were France at approximately 11 million visitors,
followed by Spain at 9 million. The USA, Greece, and Turkey
were far less popular at around 4, 3 and 2 million visitors
respectively.
TABLE
WHAT IS TABLE ALL ABOUT IN
WRITING TASK 1
Table
In Academic Writing Task 1, you need to
describe some visual information. This visual
information might be a table. Tables contain
words, numbers or signs, or a combination of
these, displayed in columns or boxes to
illustrate a set of facts and the relationship
between them.
Summarize the information by selecting and
reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

 How to approach table completion tasks

Step Read the instructions carefully. Note that in the

1: sample task you may use your own words if you
wish, based on the information in the reading text. In
other cases you will be instructed to use the words
from the reading text only. Note also that here you
may write only three words or fewer.
Step Look at the table and especially any headings.
2: Decide which is the most useful way to read the
table. In this case you need to read it horizontally to
answer the questions. Glance at the other
information given in the table to get an idea of what
information you will be searching for when you read.
How to approach table completion tasks

Step Look at the first row under the headings. Decide

3: what key ideas you will need to search for as you
skim the reading text. Decide also what
information you will need to complete the first
gap. For example, in the sample task you will
skim for a paragraph or section discussing
icebergs not being plotted because something
was scattered all over the ship. What was that
something?
Step Skim the text for the appropriate paragraph or
4: section.
Step Read that section more carefully and decide on
5: the best word or words to fill the gap. Remember
that you will need to use the appropriate form of
TASK 1

 Before you write

 Readthe task and make a mental
summary of the key points and overall
trends/stages.
 Why? Because if you misinterpret the
data or diagram, you will lose a lot of
marks for content
TASK 1
 As you write
 Introduce the information, in a sentence or two, using your
own words.
 Why? Because if you copy the question, the examiner will
not count these words.
 Summarise the key points and use data to illustrate these.
 Why? Because you will lose marks if you miss key points
or fail to illustrate them.
 Include an overview of the information - either in your
introduction or conclusion.
 Why? Because you will lose marks if your answer does not
contain an overview.
TASK 1
 How you write
 Try to show that you can use your own words
(wherever possible) and a range of grammatical
structures.
 Why? Because you will get more marks for
vocabulary and grammar if you can do this.
 Divide your answer into paragraphs and use linkers
to connect your ideas.
 Why? Because you will get more marks if you can
organise your answer well and use a range of
linking and reference words.
TASK 1
 When you have finished
 Count your words to make sure you have written enough.
 Why? Because short answers lose marks. (There are no extra marks
for long answers.)
 Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.
 Why? Because mistakes in these areas can reduce your marks.
 Question prompt
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The table illustrates the proportion of monthly household income five
European countries spend on food and drink, housing, clothing and
entertainment.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features

and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

Proportion of household income five
European countries spend on food and
drink, housing, clothing and entertainment

Food and Entertainme

Housing Clothing
drink nt

31% 7% 13%
France 25%

22% 33% 15% 19%

German
y

UK 27% 37% 11% 11%

36% 20% 12% 10%
Turkey

31% 18% 8% 15%

Spain
 WORD CHOICES YOU CAN USE IN
YOUR WRITING

it is evident that However shows a quarter on the largest

much less
the remaining ranging between respectively while
on
 THE TABLE
The table 1. ___ the amount of household income that five countries in
Europe spend per month on four items. Overall, 2. ___all five countries
spend the majority of their income on food and drink and housing,
but 3. ___clothing and entertainment.
Housing is 4. ______expenditure item for France, Germany and the UK,
with all of them spending around one 5. ____third of their income on
this, at 30%, 33% and 37%, . In contrast, they spend
around 6. ____food and drink. 7. ____, this pattern is reversed for
Turkey and Spain, who spend around a fifth of their income on housing,
but approximately one third on food and drink.
All five countries spend much less on 8. ____two items. Regarding
clothes, France and Spain spend the least, at less than 10%, 9. ____ the
other three countries spend around the same amount, 10. ____12%
and 15%. At 19%, Germany spends the most on entertainment,
whereas UK and Turkey spend approximately half this amount, with
France and Spain between the two.
ANSWER
 The table 1. shows the amount of household income that five
countries in Europe spend per month on four items. Overall, 2. it is
evident that all five countries spend the majority of their income on
food and drink and housing, but 3. much less on clothing and
entertainment.
 Housing is 4. the largest expenditure item for France, Germany and
the UK, with all of them spending around one third of their income on
this, at 30%, 33% and 37%, 5. respectively. In contrast, they spend
around 6. a quarter on food and drink. 7. However, this pattern is
reversed for Turkey and Spain, who spend around a fifth of their
income on housing, but approximately one third on food and drink.
 All five countries spend much less on 8. the remaining two items.
Regarding clothing, France and Spain spend the least, at less than
10%, 9. while the other three countries spend around the same
amount, 10. ranging between 12% and 15%. At 19%, Germany
spends the most on entertainment, whereas UK and Turkey spend
approximately half this amount, with France and Spain between the
two.
 VOCABULARY
THAT YOU CAN
USE
 An inspection of the data in the first table clearly shows
It is apparent from this table that considerable …
In the third column there is a distinct trend of …
What stands out in the table is …
Closer inspection of the table shows …
As the table shows, there is a significant decrease …
There is a significant difference between column A and column B, most notably…
An inspection of the data in the table reveals that…
 What stands out in this table …
 …is the general pattern of
…is the difference between
…is the wide disparity between
…is the rapid increase of
…is the growth of
…is the high rate of
 Fancy Sentences
 The figure for 1999 is almost three times that of 2010.
The figure for 2011 is exactly four times that of 2010.
It is clear that the figures between 2001 and 2010 are broadly in the same range.
 Grouping
 The figures between 1999 and 2000 are very similar to those of the prior year.
The figures in column A and B are almost identical.
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