Writing Task 1 rewards precise vocabulary more than impressive vocabulary. The examiner wants to see that you can describe a rise, a fall, a proportion or a change on a map accurately, and in different ways, so you don’t repeat increased ten times. This page collects the words and phrases you need for every chart type, with the grammar that goes with them.
For structure and full sample answers, start with the IELTS Writing Task 1 guide.
Introducing the chart#
| Purpose | Words and phrases |
|---|---|
| Verbs | shows · illustrates · compares · gives information about · presents · provides data on |
| Paraphrasing the topic | the number of → how many; the percentage of → the proportion of; from 2000 to 2020 → over a twenty-year period |
| Overview | Overall, · In general, · It is clear that · The most noticeable feature is |
Trends: verbs and nouns#
| Direction | Verbs | Nouns |
|---|---|---|
| Up | rose · increased · grew · climbed · went up · surged (very fast) | a rise · an increase · growth · an upward trend |
| Down | fell · decreased · declined · dropped · went down · plummeted (very fast) | a fall · a decrease · a decline · a drop · a downward trend |
| No change | remained stable · stayed the same · levelled off · stabilised | a period of stability · a plateau |
| Up and down | fluctuated | a fluctuation · fluctuations |
| Highest / lowest point | peaked at · reached a peak of · hit a low of · bottomed out at | a peak · a high · a low |
Two sentence patterns give you variety: verb + adverb (Sales rose sharply) and adjective + noun (There was a sharp rise in sales).
Adjectives and adverbs for size and speed#
| Size | Adjectives (+ noun) | Adverbs (+ verb) |
|---|---|---|
| Big change | dramatic · sharp · significant · substantial · considerable | dramatically · sharply · significantly · substantially · considerably |
| Medium / steady | steady · moderate · gradual | steadily · moderately · gradually |
| Small change | slight · marginal · modest | slightly · marginally · modestly |
Prepositions with numbers#
| Preposition | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| to | the final figure | Sales rose to 3.4 million. |
| by | the amount of change | Sales rose by 2.2 million. |
| from… to… | start and end | Sales rose from 1.2 to 3.4 million. |
| of | after a noun | a rise of 2.2 million |
| at | a level or a peak | Sales peaked at 3.4 million / stood at 1.2 million. |
| in | after a noun, the thing that changed | a rise in sales |
Proportions and percentages#
| Figure | Words |
|---|---|
| 75% | three quarters |
| 66–67% | two thirds |
| 50% | half |
| 52% | just over half |
| 48% | just under half / almost half |
| 33% | a third |
| 25% | a quarter |
| 20% | a fifth / one in five |
| 10% | a tenth / one in ten |
| 85%+ | the vast majority |
| below 10% | a small minority |
Useful verbs: accounted for · made up · represented · comprised. For example: Housing accounted for just over a third of spending.
Approximation#
about · around · approximately · roughly · nearly · almost · just over · just under · well over · slightly more than. Make sure the approximation is true: 32% is almost a third, never nearly half.
Comparisons#
twice as many as · three times higher than · slightly more than · considerably lower than · by far the highest · the second most popular · similar to · whereas · while · by contrast · compared with
Processes#
- Passive voice: is collected · are sorted · is heated · are transported · is packaged
- Sequencers: first · next · then · after that · subsequently · following this · finally
- Within a sentence: after which · before being · once · at which point
- Stages: the process begins with · at the second stage · the final stage is · the cycle begins again
Maps#
- Location: in the north / south-east · to the west of · next to · opposite · along · across · in the centre of
- Building: has been built / constructed / erected · has been added
- Removing: has been demolished / knocked down / removed · has been cleared
- Changing: has been replaced by · has been converted into · has been extended / expanded · to make way for
- No change: remained unchanged · stayed the same
Time phrases#
over the period · during the first decade · from 2000 onwards · in the following five years · by 2020 · at the end of the period · throughout the period
Quick quiz#
- Sales rose ______ 3.4 million in 2020.
(to / by / of) - There was a sharp ______ in unemployment.
(rise / rose / risen) - Visitor numbers fell ______ 1.8 million to 0.7 million.
(from / at / in) - 32% is ______ of the total.
(almost a third / nearly half / a quarter) - The number of cars increased ______ between 2010 and 2015.
(significantly / significant / significance) - Prices peaked ______ $50 in March.
(at / to / by) - The bottles ______ by colour.
(are sorted / sort / are sort) - The forest ______ to make way for a supermarket.
(has been cleared / has cleared / was clear)
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Answer key with explanationsShowHide
- 1to“to” + the final figure.
- 2riseA noun is needed after “a sharp”.
- 3from“from… to…” gives the start and end points.
- 4almost a third33% is a third, so 32% is almost a third.
- 5significantlyAn adverb describes the verb “increased”.
- 6at“peak at” + the highest figure.
- 7are sortedProcesses use the passive: are + past participle.
- 8has been clearedMap change from the past to now: present perfect passive.
Use the vocabulary#
Practise with a real question: each guide has a chart, a 20-minute editor and a Band 8 model answer.
- Bar chart · Line graph · Pie chart
- Table · Process diagram · Map
For more on describing change, see how to describe trends.