IELTS Task 1 Academic Writing: Language Use

1) Introduce the Graph

You need to begin with one or two sentences that state what the
IELTS writing task 1 shows. To do this, paraphrase the title of the
graph, making sure you put in a time frame if there is one.

Language for the introduction:

Ex: The given diagram shows…

Introductory Type of visual Verb

words
The given bar picture compares
The graph pie chart delineates
supplied chart presentation depicts
The column process table describes
presented data table data enumerates
The shown diagram expresses
The diagram pie chart and gives
provided map table gives data on
figure gives information on
flow bar graph illustrates
chart and pie chart indicates
graph outlines
illustration shows
information shows data about
line graph presents
presents information
about
provides
represents
summarizes
2) Give an Overview
You also need to state what the main trend or trends in the graph
are. Don’t give detail such as data here – you are just looking for
something that describes what is happening overall.

Language for the Overview

Ex. Overall, the consumption of fish and chips declined over the
period, whereas the amount of pizza and hamburgers that were
eaten increased.

Overview Language
As a general trend, Generally speaking,
As can be seen, In common,
As is observed, In general,
As is presented, It can be clearly seen that
As an overall trend, It is obvious that
At the first glance, it is clear Overall

3) Give the Detail

 You can now give more specific detail in the body paragraphs.
 When you give the detail in your body paragraphs in your IELTS
writing task 1, you must make reference to the data.
 The key to organizing your body paragraphs for an IELTS writing
task 1 is to group data together where there are patterns.
 To do this you need to identify any similarities and differences.
 Look at the graph – what things are similar and what things are
different?

Language to Similarities / differences

Exactly the same Almost the Same Not the same

absolutely the same about the same as The reverse is the
as case...
almost identical to
equal to
exactly the same as almost the same as It is quite the
nearly the same as opposite/ reverse...
identical to
just the same as practically the
same as
precisely the same
the same as
Language to describe changes on a graph

Ex: Pizza consumption increased gradually until it overtook the

consumption of fish and chips in 1990. It then levelled off from 1995
to 2000

Increase Decrease No change

Fast Fast leveled out
doubled Collapse / a collapse plateaued /
jump / a dive plateau remained
jump leap / a drop / a drop in constant
leap move go into free-fall remained stable/
upward halved plummet a stability
rocket(ed) plunge remain static
shot up take a nosedive remained steady
skyrocket / steadiness
soar Neutral remained the
surge decline / a decline in same was
tripled decrease/ a decrease unchanged
upsurge in fall / a fall Ups and Downs
go down / a downward changes
Neutral trend
Climb / a climb Intermittently
slide / a slide
go up / an upward reduce / a change sporadically
trend reduction Slow erratically -erratic
improve / an dip fluctuate
improvement slump
increase / an a downward trend irregularly - irregular
increase in a downward tendency rise and fall
rise / a rise in a descending trend
Slow
an upward trend
an upward tendency

Language to describe low and high points on a graph

Low point High point

hit rock bottom culminated at
the bottommost point culmination of
the lowest point hit the peak
touch the lowest point / reached peak – the peak
the nadir reached the peak
reached the apex
reached the vertex
touched the highest point
Adverbs/Adjectives to describe changes on a graph

Rapid/Huge Moderate Steady Slight

considerably- moderately- steadily-steady fractionally-
considerable moderat ceaselessly- fractiona
dramatically-dramatic e gradually- ceaseless l mildly-mild
enormous-enormously gradual slightly-slight
hurriedly-hurried progressively- slowly-slow
noticeably-noticeable progressi tediously-
overwhelmingly- ve sequentially- tedious
overwhelmin sequential
g quickly-quick
rapidly-rapid
sharply-
sharp
significantly-
significant speedily-
speedy substantially-
substantial
swiftly-swift

Words and Phrases of approximation

Language of approximation
about a little more than
almost a little less than
approximately more or less
around nearly
just about practically the same
just below roughly
just over roughly the same
just under well above
well below

Words and Phrases to show time

1. Between ... (year/ month) ... and ... (year/ month) ...
2. From ... (year/ month/ day/date) ...to ... (year/month/day /date) …
3. In... (year/ month) ...
4. On ... (day/ day of the week/ a date) ...
5. At ......, In ......, By ......
6. During ... (year)...
7. Over the period/ over the century/ later half of the year/ the
year...
8. Over the next/past/previous days/weeks/months/years/
Language for presenting percentages
You can present a percentage data in one of the three different ways.
It is suggested that you use all these formats in your report writing
instead of
repeating the same style to show percentages in your writing.

% = In percentage / % = In % = In fraction
in %. proportion
20% of One out of five, One fifth of
ten percent of One out of ten One tenth of
50% fifty percent of One out of two One half of