IELTS Writing Task 1: Useful Language
1. THE LANGUAGE OF APPROXIMATION
In report writing it is good style to use approximation. Approximation means describing numbers or statistics by using a fraction that is similar to
the exact number. There are a number of reasons for doing this. Firstly, it is easier for people to understand and remember. Secondly, the
numbers or statistics may be more detailed than necessary.
Table 01:
Ord numbers/statistics similar fractions Ord numbers/statistics similar fractions
1 65 % about two-thirds of 13 1,043 over a thousand
2 28 % just over a quarter of 14 115 over a hundred
3 21 % about a fifth of 15 9 fewer than ten
4 49 % just under a half of 16 2 a small number
5 92 % most of 17 4 a few
6 33.333 % a third of 18 6/7 several
7 74 % almost three – quarters of 19 749,982 about three-quarters of a million
8 98,5 % almost all 20 1,256,890,534 over 1.2 billion
9 19.98 % about a fifth of 21 101,997 about 100,000
10 26 % just over a quarter of 22 248.112 a quarter of a million
11 48.873 % almost a half of 23 1,695,193 about 1.7 million
12 74.25 % nearly three - quarters 24 97 just under a hundred
2. THE WORDS AND PHRASES TO DESCRIBE TRENDS:
Table 02:
NOUNS VERBS PHRASES ADVERBS ADJECTIVES
a rise to rise to show an upward trend sharply sharp
an increase to increase to show a downward trend suddenly sudden
a surge to surge to hit the highest point rapidly rapid
a growth to grow to hit the lowest point abruptly abrupt
a peak to peak to reach a peak dramatically dramatic
a fluctuation to skyrocket to show some fluctuation significantly steep
a variation to fluctuate to fluctuate wildly steadily significant
a period of stability to vary to remain stable considerably steady
a plateau to fall to remain static markedly considerable
a fall to decrease to remain unchanged slightly marked
a decrease to decline to stay constant gently slight
a decline to dip to reach a plateau gradually gentle
a dip to dive to level off wildly gradual
to plunge to flatten out
the highest
the lowest
the second highest
the third highest
compared to
compared with
relative to
MORE WORDS AND PHRASES TO DESCRIBE TRENDS:
A. Introduction
1. The graph/ table/ shows/ indicates/ illustrates/ reveals/ 13. to deplete
represents… 14. to lessen
2. It is clear from the graph/table … 15. to escalate:
3. It can be seen from the graph/table … 16. to stand at the same level
4. As the graph/table shows … 17. to fall to … %
5. As can be seen from the graph/table … 18. to fall from … %
6. As is shown by the graph/table … 19. to fall by …%
7. As is illustrated by the graph/table … 20. to drop to …
8. From the graph / table it is clear … 21. to rise to … %
22. to rise by … %
B. Verbs 23. to rise from … %
1. to constitute/ make up 24. to increase at …% /reduce at … %
2. to comprise 25. to increase to … /reduce to …
3. to account for 26. to remain relatively steady
4. to amount to
5. to stand at C. Adverbs
6. to treble 1. exceptionally
7. to double 2. remarkably
8. to increase three fold 3. moderately
9. to havle 4. extremely/enormously
10. to diminish 5. substantially
11. to slow down 6. marginally
12. to remain the same/ unchanged 7. hardly/ scarcely
8. slowly
D. Prepositions and prepositional phrases F. Comparison
1. In/within the range of … and … 1. Comparing the figures for 1990 and 2000 …
2. For/During the first six months, … 2. Compared to/with x, y is …
3. During the remainder of the year, … 3. Comparing with x, y is more …
4. During the first half of this century, … 4. Comparing X with Y we find that …
5. Between 1950 and 1960, … 5. Comparing x with y, it can be seen by us that …
6. In the period from 1960 to 1990, …
7. In the period between 1950 and 1960, …
8. From that time on
9. Over a ten-year period, …
10. Throughout the nineteenth century
11. Unlike …
12. In contrast to …
13. In comparison with …
E. Nouns and noun phrases
1. overview
2. a large number /percentage of …
3. the whole/total amount/quantity of …
4. the total number of …
5. An increase of … %
6. trend
7. correlation
8. a drop of … %
9. an increase in …
10. a slight increase
11. a drop in …
Types of Trend
