IELTS Writing - Desribing graphs
Don't panic! It's ONLY a graph and this page tells you how to describe it.
FIRST
Write an introduction.
- You need to say what the graph shows.
eg. "The graph shows the change in household incomes in 2 American towns between 1979 and 1999. "
NEXT
eg. "The main factor is that households in Kenwood earn substantially more than households in Minneapolis."
eg. "In 1979 median household earnings in Kenwood stood at just over $78 000, whereas
families living in Minneapolis earned less than half this amount, with medain earnings standing at around $33 000."
SYNONYMS
- Use different phrases.
- Don't repeat the title of the graph.
Synonyms for household incomes
ALSO
eg. verb + adverb "Median incomes in Minneapolis rose considerably from $78 000 in 1979 to $107 000 in 1989."
eg. noun + adjective "However, 1989 to 1999 saw a small drop to around $103 000."
USEFUL VOCABULARY
The following vocabulary is very useful for Writing Task 1.
VERBS
increase - increased | decrease - decreased |
rise - rose go up - went up grow - grew boom - boomed jump- jumped | fall - fell go down - went down decline - declined drop - dropped reduce - reduced |
ADVERBS
a big/ fast change | a medium change | a small/ slow change |
fell/ rose dramatically considerably significantly suddenly rapidly sharply | fell/ rose moderately steadily | fell/rose slightly minimally gradually slowly |
ADJECTIVES
a big change | a medium change | a small change |
a dramatic fall considerable sudden rapid significant | a moderate fall steady | a slight fall minimal gradual slow |
OTHER VOCABULARY
stayed the same | the highest point | the lowest point | rose and fell a lot |
remained constant remained stable did not change | reached a peak | dipped | fluctuated |
fell and then did not change | rose and then did not change |
levelled out | plateaued |
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