Vocabulary for Academic Writing

1. Graph Writing Vocabulary Index

2. Vocabulary for the Introduction Part:

Starting Presentation Type Verb Description
The/ the given / the diagram / table / figure shows / represents / the comparison of…
supplied / the / illustration / graph / depicts / enumerates / the differences…
presented / the chart / flow chart / illustrates / presents/ the changes...
shown / the provided picture/ presentation/ gives / provides / the number of…
pie chart / bar graph/ delineates/ outlines/ information on…
column graph / line describes / delineates/ data on…
graph / table data/ data expresses/ denotes/ the proportion of…
/ information / pictorial/ compares/ shows the amount of…
process diagram/ map/ contrast / indicates / information on...
pie chart and table/ bar figures / gives data on data about...
graph and pie chart ... / gives information on/ comparative data...
presents information the trend of...
about/ shows data the percentages of...
about/ demonstrates/ the ratio of...
sketch out/ how the...
summarizes..

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Example:

1. The provided diagram shows data on employment categories in energy producing sectors in
Europe starting from 1925 and till 1985.
2. The given pie charts represent the proportion of male and female employee in 6 broad
categories, divided into manual and non-manual occupations in Fredonia.
3. The chart gives information on expenditures of 4 European countries on six consumer
products namely Germany , Italy , Britain and France.
4. The supplied bar graph compares the number of male and female graduated in three developing
countries while the table data presents the overall literacy rate in these countries.
5. The bar graph and the table data depict the water use in different sectors in five regions.
6. The bar graph enumerates the money spent on different research projects while the column graph
demonstrates the sources of the amount spent over a decade, commencing from 1981.
7. The line graph delineates the proportion of male and female employees in three different
sectors in Australia between 2010 and 2015.

3. Vocabulary for the General Trend Part:

In general, In common, Generally speaking, Overall, It is obvious, As is observed, As a general
trend, As can be seen, As an overall trend, As is presented, It can be clearly seen that, At the
first glance, it is clear , At the onset, it is clear that, A glance at the graphs reveals that...

Example:

1. In general, the employment opportunity has increased till 1970 and has dropped down
afterwards.
2. As is observed, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries show no
overall pattern of increase or decrease rather shows the considerable fluctuation from
country to country.
3. Generally speaking, USA had a far more standard life than all the other 4 mentioned
countries.
4. As can be seen, the highest number of passengers used the London Underground station
at 8:00 in the morning and at 6:00 in the evening.
5. Generally speaking, more men were engaged in managerial positions in 1987 than that of
women in New York.

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 6. As an overall trend, the number of crimes reported increased fairly rapidly until the mid-
seventies, remained constant for five years and finally, dropped to 20 cases a week after
1982.
7. At the first glance, it is clear that more percentages of native university pupils violated
regulations and rules than the foreign students.
8. At the onset, it is clear that drinking in public and drink driving were the most common
reasons for the US citizens to be arrested in 2014.
9. Overall, the leisure hours enjoyed by males regardless of their employment status was
much higher than that of women.

4. Vocabulary to Start the Report Body:

Just after you finish writing your 'Introduction' (i.e. General Statement + General overview/
trend), you are expected to start a new paragraph to describe the main features of the diagrams.
This second paragraph is called the 'Body Paragraph / Report Body". You can have a single body
paragraph/ report body or up to 3, (not more than 3 in any case) depending on the number of
graphs provided in the question and the type of these graphs. There are certain phrases you can
use to start your body paragraph and following is a list of such phrases ---1. As is presented in
the diagram(s)/ graph(s)/ pie chart(s)/ table...

1. As (is) shown in the illustration...

2. As can be seen in the...
3. As the diagrams suggest...
4. According to the...
5. Categorically speaking...
6. Getting back to the details...
7. Now, turning to the details....
8. The table data clearly shows that...
9. The diagram reveals that...
10. The data suggest that...
11. The graph gives figure...
12. It is interesting to note that...
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13. It is apparently seen that...
14. It is conspicuous that...
15. It is explicitly observed that...
16. It is obvious...
17. It is clear from the data...
18. It is worth noticing that...
19. It is crystal clear/ lucid that...
20. It can be clearly observed that...
21. It could be plainly viewed that...
22. It could be noticed that...
23. We can see that...

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 5. Vocabulary to show the changes:

Trends Verb form Noun Form

rise / increase / go up / uplift / a rise / an increase / an upward
rocket(ed) / trend
climb / upsurge / soar/ shot up/ / a growth / a leap / a jump /
Increase improve/ an
jump/ leap/ move upward/ improvement/ a climb.
skyrocket/ soar/
surge.
fall / decrease / decline / a fall / a decrease / a reduction
plummet / plunge / /a
drop / reduce / collapse / downward trends /a
Decrease deteriorate/ dip / downward
dive / go down / take a tendency / a decline/ a drop /
nosedive / slum / a slide /
slide / go into free-fall a collapse / a downfall
unchanged / level out / remain a steadiness/ a plateau / a
constant / stability/ a static
Steadiness remain steady / plateau /
remain the same /
remain stable / remain static
an upward trend / an upward
Gradual increase ------------ tendency / a ceiling trend
a downward trend / a
Gradual decrease ------------ downward
tendency / a descending trend
level(ed) off / remain(ed)
constant /
remain(ed) unchanged /
remain(ed) stable /
prevail(ed) consistency /
stability/ Flat plateaued / No change, a flat, a plateau.
reach(ed) a plateau / stay(ed)
uniform
/immutable / level(ed) out/
stabilize/
remain(ed) the same

Examples:

1. The overall sale of the company has increased by 20% at the end of the year.
2. The expenditure of the office remained constant for the last 6 months but the profit rose
by almost 25%.

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3. There was a 15% drop in the student enrollment of the University.
4. The population of the country remained almost the same as it was 2 years ago.
5. The population of these two cities increases significantly in the last two decades and it is
predicted that it will remain stable in the next 5 years.

6. Vocabulary to represent changes in graphs:

Type of Change Adverb form Adjective form

dramatically / rapidly / dramatic / rapid / sharp /
sharply / quickly / hurriedly quick / hurried / speedy /

Rapid change / speedily / swiftly / swift / significant /

significantly/ considerably / considerable / substantial /
substantially / noticeably . noticeable
moderately / gradually / moderate / gradual /

Moderate change progressively / Progressive / sequential.

sequentially .

Steady change steadily/ ceaselessly . steady/ ceaseless.

slightly / slowly / mildly / slight / slow / mild / tedious
Slight change
tediously .

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Example:

1. The economic inflation of the country increased sharply by 20% in 2008.

2. There was a sharp drop in the industrial production in the year 2009.
3. The demand for new houses dramatically increased in 2002.
4. The population of the country dramatically increased in the last decade.
5. The price of the oil moderately increased in last quarter but as a consequence, the price of
daily necessity rapidly went up.

7. Vocabulary to represent frequent changes in graphs:

Type of Change Verb form Noun form

wave / fluctuate / oscillate / waves / fluctuations /
Rapid ups and downs vacillate / palpitate oscillations / vacillations /
palpitations.

Example:

1. The price of the raw materials fluctuated for the first three months.
2. The graph shows the oscillations of the price of fuel from 1998 to 2002.
3. The passenger number in this station oscillates throughout the day but early
morning and evening are the two busiest time.
4. The changes of car production in Japan show a palpitation for the second quarter of the
year.
5. The number of students in debate clubs fluctuated in different months as rapid
ups and downs could be observed in the last three months.

8. Dates, Months & Y ears related vocabulary and grammar:

 From 1990 to 2000, Commencing from 1980, Between 1995 and 2005, After 2012.
 By 1995, In 1998, In February, Over the period, During the period, During 201 1.
 In the first half of the year, For the first quarter, The last quarter of the year, During the
first decade.

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  In the 80s, In the 1980s, During the next 6 months, In the mid-70s, Next 10 years,
Previous year , Next year ,Between 1980 - 1990.
 Within a time span of ten years, within five years.
 Next month, Next quarter, Next year, previous month, previous year.
 Since, Then, From.

9. Words/ Phrases of Approximation - Vocabulary:

» Approximately
» Nearly
» Roughly
» Almost
» About
» Around
» More or less
» Just over
» Just under
» Just around
» Just about
» Just below
» A little more than
» A little less than
10.Percentage, Portion and Numbers:
Percentages:
10% increase, 25 percent decrease, increased by 15%, dropped by 10 per cent, fall at 50%,
reached to 75%, tripled, doubled, one-fourth, three-quarters, half, double fold, treble, 5 times
higher , 3 timers lower , declined to about 49%, stood exactly at 43%.
Fractions:
 4% = A tiny fraction.
 24% = Almost a quarter.
 25% exactly a quarter.
 26% = roughly one quarter.

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  32% nearly one-third, nearly a third.
 49% = around a half, just under a half.
 50% exactly a half.
 51% = Just over a half.
 73% = nearly three quarters.
 77% = Approximately three quarter , more than three-quarter .
 79% = Well over three quarters.
Proportions:
 2% = A tiny portion, a very small proportion.
 4% = An insignificant minority, an insignificant proportion.
 16% = A small minority, a small portion.
 70% = A large proportion.
 72% = A significant majority, A significant proportion.89% = A very large proportion.
 89% = A very large proportion.

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