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EXPRESSIONS FOR IELTS WRITING - ACADEMIC TASK 1

Describing paragraphs and sentences

Introducing the topic Introducing the first major trend

The graph shows/ reveals/ indicates/ represents/..
The chart displays… / The diagram illustrates…
Some interesting facts concerning… are revealed The first result worth pointing out is that…
in the diagram.
It can be seen from the graph/ table ….
As is shown/ illustrated by the graph,…
Several key trends are revealed by the graph
showing…
Introducing the first set of data
Beginning with the…
To begin with the…
Let me begin by describing the…
Introducing the second set of data
Meanwhile, the… shows that…
As for the… , it shows that…
Turning to the… , it can be seen that…
Concluding and summarising
To sum up, … / In summary, … / In short, …
Overall, … / On the whole, …
The main thing that can be observed here is
that…
First of all, it is clear that…
Most noticeably of all, it can be seen that…
Introducing lesser trends
Another trend that can be observed is that…
It is also worth pointing out that…
Also worth noting is that…
Exceptions to the main trend
However, this was not always the case.
However, it should be pointed out that…
There was one noticeable exception, however.
Comparing and contrasting
Similarly, … / By contrast, …
A similar trend can be observed in…
The results for… , however, reveal a markedly
different trend.
Adding figures
The figures were X and Y respectively.
…, at X. / …, with Y. (Usage note: use ‘at’ when
you mean ‘the figure was’; use ‘with’ when you
mean ‘something had’)
…, at/with X and Y respectively.

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Describing changes

Directions Nouns Verbs

a rise to rise (to)

an increase to increase (to)
a surge to surge
a growth to grow
a peak to peak/ to reach a peak
an upward trend to show an upward trend
the highest point to hit the highest point
a boom (a dramatic rise) to boom (cost)
to rocket
to soar
to climb (to)
to go up (to)

a fall to fall (to)

a decrease to decrease (to)
a decline to decline (to)
a dip to dip (to)
a drop to drop (to)
a reduction to reduce (to)
a slump (a dramatic fall) to slump (to)
to dive (to)
to plunge (to)
to go down (to)

a fluctuation to fluctuate
a variation to show some fluctuation
to vary

a period of stability to remain stable/ static/

a plateau unchanged/ steady (at)
no change not to change
a leveling out to reach a plateau (at)
to level out (at)
to stay constant
to maintain the same level

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Describing degree of change

Adjectives Adverbs
dramatic dramatically
sharp sharply
huge
enormous enormously
steep steeply
substantial substantially
considerable considerably
significant significantly
marked markedly
remarkable remarkably
moderate moderately
slight slightly
small
minimal minimally

Describing the speed of change

Adjectives Adverbs
rapid rapidly
quick quickly
swift swiftly
sudden suddenly
steady steadily
gradual gradually
slow slowly

Using prepositions
verbs amount/how much? level when?
fell by 20% to 16% by-in- around- about 2006
rose by 120 to 370 from 2008 to 2009
between January and
March
increased/decreased by 5.5 from 12.7 to 13.2 before/ after 1960
at the end of the last
nouns century
an increase/rise of 20% to 81,000 since the 19th century
a drop/fall in the number/amount from 65 to 31

Source: British council 2011

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Other useful expressions
(in) the period from … to..
(in) the period between…and…
in the first/ last three months of the year
over the period….to…

over the next years/ decades/ quarter of a century

over a ten-year period
throughout the 19th century
from that time on/ after that/ then

Describing quantities
amount/ quantity
figure
a great deal of
the total/ the total quantity of
the whole of the
the majority/ the minority
the maximum/ the minimum
number/ the total number/ the greatest number

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amount/ the greatest/whole amount

Note:
- It is best to use amount and quantity for uncountable nouns, although both are used for
countable nouns as well, particularly quantity. However, number can be generally be
safely used for all countable nouns.
- Many is used for countable nouns, while a great deal of should be used for uncountable
nouns. (for uncountable nouns a lot of can be used informally, but it should be avoided in
formal writing)

Describing change or the relationship of something by measurements

percent rate degree range
percentage scale ratio extent
level proportion

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Using verbs

be make up consist of
constitute comprise amount to
equal account for represent
include record reach
stand at become

Using mathematical expressions

half n. halve v. double n./ v.
triple n. treble v. threefold adj.
quarter n/v multiply v. divide v.
average adj/v/n total adj./ v partial adj.
equal adj/n fraction n.

Describing comparatives
a greater amount a greater number
larger quantity larger proportion
smaller size higher percentage
a greater degree smaller
higher rate lower
lower level

Describing contrast
but while in contrast to
however whereas by contrast
nevertheless although instead of
yet even though apart from
on the other hand as opposed to except for
unlike
Using other parts of speech to describe contrast
Verbs Adjectives Nouns

compare (with/ to) compared (with/to) comparison

contrast (with)
differ (from)
differentiate (between)
distinguish (between)
resemble
vary (from/ between)
change (from/to)
in comparison with
contrasting contrast
in contrast to
different (from) difference (between)
distinct (from) distinction (between)
as distinct from
same resemblance (to/with)
the same as
similar (to) similarity (with)
variation (between)
change (from)

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Describing similarity

similarity likewise equally

in the same way the same in a similar way/ fashion
both…and… as well as not only…but also…
also too like x,y,…
as…as.. just as x,y… just as x, so y…

Sample sentences

• There was a substantial increase in the value of stocks on March 15th.

• House prices rose dramatically in July.
• The number of tourists visiting New York fell sharply in October.
• The percentage of students walking to school continued to rise gradually over the ten
year period from 2000-2010.
• There was a sharp increase in employee turnover after the strike.
• Interest in environmental issues has risen steadily over the last 10 years.
• The amount of production increased in the last 20 years.
• The number of cars on the roads increased in the last 20 years.
• The proportion of women to men in the workforce increased.
• Women made up/ constituted a significant percentage of the workforce.
• Paper and card board amounted to 21% of the total household waste.
• Exports doubled, to reach 80% of imports in 1990.
• The number of users increased fivefold.
• There were more/ fewer accidents last year than the year before.

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