LANGUAGE FOR IELTS WRITING TASK 1

Common sentence patterns

§ X rose/increase/grew/went up from… to…
§ X rose/increase/grew/went up by …
§ There was a/an rise/increase/growth of … in the number/amount/proportion of X.
§ X rose slightly/gradually/considerably/to … in [year].
§ [year/place] saw/witnessed a/an rise/increase/growth of … in the number/amount/proportion of X.
§ By [year], the number/amount/proportion of X had increased/grown/gone up to…

A. Describing trends
Words describing upward trends
VERB NOUN EXAMPLE
rise a rise it rose by 5% / there was a rise of 5%
increase an increase it increased by 5% / there was an increase of 5%
grow a growth it grew by 5% / there was a growth of 5%
go up it went up by 2%

Words describing downward trends

VERB NOUN EXAMPLE
fall a fall it fell by 5% / there was a fall of 5%
decrease a decrease it decreased by 5% / there was a decrease of 5%
decline a decline it declined by 5% / there was a decline of 5%
drop a drop it dropped by 5% / there was a drop of 5%
go down a drop it went down by 5%

Words describing little or no change

VERB + ADJECTIVE/NOUN EXAMPLE
stable it remained stable at 5%
constant it remained constant at 5%
remain
steady it remained steady at 5%
the same it remained the same at 5%
no change there was no change at 5%

Words describing a trend that goes up and down in turn

VERB NOUN EXAMPLE
it fluctuated between 5% and 9% / there was a fluctuation of
fluctuate a fluctuation
4% / there was a 4% fluctuation

Words describing a high/low point

VERB NOUN EXAMPLE
peak (reach) a peak it peaked at 40% / it reached a peak of 10%
In 2008, the number of foreign holidays fell to its lowest
(reach/fall to/drop
point at 320.
bottom out to) the/its lowest
By contrast, turnover from console games dropped to its
point
lowest point, at around $2.5 billion.

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Words describing ‘how much’ change
ADJECTIVE ADVERB EXAMPLES
significant significantly
considerable considerably
substantial substantially
there was a significant drop in the number of / the number
rapid rapidly of… dropped significantly

sharp sharply
it rose steadily / there was a steady rise
dramatic dramatically
moderate moderately there was a slight increase in the amount of / the amount of …
increased slightly
gradual gradually
steady steadily it grew considerably / there was a considerable growth

slight slightly
slow slowly

Words describing quantity

TO SHOW “LESS THAN” TO SHOW “SIMILAR QUANTITY” TO SHOW “MORE THAN”
around
approximately
just under just over
about
well under well over
roughly
less than more than
nearly
more or less
Example:

B. Including numbers
METHOD EXAMPLE
The percentage of people who studied English (50%) is substantially higher than
using brackets
those who studied French (24%).
which constitutes
12% of crimes
Drinking which consists of is the least
using a relative clause committed in this
driving which makes up common.
Australian city,
which accounts for
using “from… to” In 1998, unemployment fell from 5% to approximately 3.5%.
started at
In 1995, the production of
using “at” began at 50,000.
cassettes
commenced at

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 peaked at
reached a peak at
finished at
ended at
Between 1992 and 1995, remained constant at
the production of remained steady at 45,000.
cassettes remained the same at
using “by” From 1995 to 1996, the production of paper decreased by 20%.
using “of” There was a decrease of 20% in the production of paper from 1995 to 1996.
using “to” The rate of unemployment rose to 12% in 2010.

C. Describing numbers in words

a fifth 20%
a quarter 25%
a third 33%
one in ten 10% 30% of the boys enjoyed playing football.
three quarters 75%
Two thirds of the accidents were caused by drink-driving.
a half 50%
just a small fraction 5% A large proportion of the students failed the test.
a minority under 50%
a majority / a large proportion over 50%
two thirds 66%

D. Comparing and contrasting

Comparisons between sentences
The most popular form of holiday among the Welsh was self-catering with over 60%
In contrast choosing to cook for themselves. In contrast, only 5% of the English chose this form of
vacation and hotel accommodation was much more popular at 48%.
Almost 50% of the English, Scots and Northern Irish chose to stay in a hotel for their
In comparison holiday. In comparison, staying in self-catering accommodation was much less popular
with around 10% of people choosing this.
The general pattern was for hotel accommodation to be the most popular with around
However half the people choosing it. The majority of the Welsh, however, chose to stay in self-
catering accommodation.
It is clear that a majority of the British chose to stay in hotel for their holiday. On the
On the other hand other hand, there was an exception to this because over 50% of the Welsh opted for
self-catering accommodation.

Comparisons within sentences

while While there are 4 million miles of train lines in the UK, there are only 3 million in France.
Whereas the majority of the French prefer to travel to work by train, only a small
whereas
minority of the British do.
although Although 15% of the French read novels, only 5% of the British do.
but Almost 25% of French females study math with a private tutor, but nearly

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Comparisons with ‘more’ and ‘less/fewer’
more 5% more girls chose to read books than go to cinema.
fewer Fewer mobile phones were bought in 2013 than 2014.
less Less oil was consumed in 2013 than 2014.
Almost 25% of French females study math with a private tutor, but 60% study English
but
with one.

Comparisons with ‘much/far/slightly’ or a number

far Far fewer people chose to travel by car than by train.
much Much fewer people chose to travel by car than by train.
slightly Slightly fewer people chose to travel by car than by train.
25% fewer people chose to travel by car than by train.
a number
5 million fewer units of gas were sold in 2014.

Comparisons with ‘most’ or ‘least/fewest’

most The most popular form of entertainment in the UK was going to the cinema.
least The least common form of transport was taking a taxi.
fewest Italy had the fewest visitors at 47.7 million

Comparisons with ‘similar’, ‘same as… as’

The percentage of females and males who studied languages at university were very
similar.
similar (to)
A similar amount of gas and electricity was used domestically in homes.
The figures for 2012 were very similar to the figures for 2013.
The percentage of females who studied at university in 2011 was almost exactly the
same as… as same as in 2012.
Machine A produced the same amount of power as machine B.

Comparisons with ‘as…as’

as many… as In 1980, Japan produced as many cars as North America, at 12 million.

as much… as In 1980, Japan produced as much oil as North America, at 12 million liters.

Comparisons with ‘differ/different/difference’

differ The amount of time spent at home differed by almost 25% according to gender.
There was a difference of over 25% in the amount of time males and females spent at
difference
home.
different This figure was very different among males, only half of whom watched television.

Other comparisons
Twice as many people elected to use gas and not electricity for cooking.
Twice the amount of gas was used for cooking in this period.
twice
Twice as many people were unemployed in 2009 compared to 2005.
There were twice as many unemployed people in 2009 as in 2005.
There was a twofold increase in the number of unemployed people between 2005 and
twofold/threefold 2009.
The number of unemployed people increased twofold between 2005 and 2009.

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three/four… times Four times as many people chose to heat their house with electricity as with gas.

Half the number of people chose to use gas as electricity.

half
Electricity was half as popular as gar for cooking.

The number of unemployed people doubled between 2005 and 2009.

From 1980 to 1990, the number of scientists and technicians in industrialised countries
almost doubled to about 70 per 1000 people.
double (v)
In 1983 a Mexican won the contest after eating 19.5 hot dogs, almost double the
double (determiner)
amount that any previous winner had eaten.
It is clear that English homes use around double the amount of electricity in the winter
compared to the summer.

E. Past simple vs. past perfect

TIME EXPRESSION TENSE
In [year] In 2002, the cost of an average house in the UK was around $100,000.
Between [year] and [year] Between 2002 and 2007, the average house price rose to $130,000.
From [year] to [year] From 2002 to 2007, the average house price rose to $130,000.
By [year] By 2007, the average house price had risen to $130,000.

F. Describing future trends

PHRASES TENSE
In 2015, the proportion of people using the Internet in the USA is expected to
is expected to
be about 20%.
The figures for Canada and Mexico are likely to be lower, at about 10% and 5%
are likely to
respectively.
In 2025, it is predicted that Internet usage in both the USA and Canada will
it is predicted that… will
rise to around 70% of the population
In 2025, it is predicted that Internet usage in both the USA and Canada will rise
should to around 70% of the population, while the figure for Mexico should reach just
over 25%.

G. Useful sentence structures

TYPE EXAMPLE
In 1999, 33% of British people went abroad for their holidays, while only 28% of
while/whereas
Australians spent their holidays in a different country.
Around 40% of women in the UK had an undergraduate qualification in 1999,
compared to
compared to 37% of men.
In 1999, 33% of British people went abroad for their holidays, while only 28% of
Australians spent their holidays in a different country. The figure for the USA
stood at 31%.
the figure for
Around 40% of women in the UK had an undergraduate qualification in 1999,
compared to 37% of men. The figure for the year 2000 rose slightly to 42% and
38 percent respectively.
In 1970, around 5 million UK commuters travelled by car on a daily basis, while the
respectively
bus and train were used by about 4 million and 2 million people respectively.

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in terms of
saw
past participle + before
after starting the period at
With regard to
Regarding
As for
Turning to
Also worth noting is that
account for
H. Language for process diagrams
VOCABULARY/GRAMMAR
passives
The figure illustrates the
process used… [purpose]
The figure illustrates the
way in which… [action]
The figure illustrates the
stages and equipment used
in the process of…
The process starts with…
and ends at…
Firstly, Secondly, Finally,
at the [first/second…] stage
(of the process)
The [first/second…] stage in
the process is that…
During the [first/second…]
stage (of the process)
then
In December 2012, one USA person is estimated to consume 50, 43, 55 and 12
pounds of beef, pork, broiler and turkey respectively.
Weekly household spending figures for those three regions were approximately £
520, £490 and £480 respectively.
The pie charts compare the UK and New Zealand in terms of household spending
patterns between 1980 and 2008.
The table compares five different countries in terms of the amounts of money
spent by tourists over a period of two years.
Britain saw/experienced a dramatic increase in CD sales in the 1980s.
The 1980s saw/experienced a dramatic increase in CD sales in Britain.
Expenditures on teacher's salaries had increased to 50% by 1991 before
declining to 45% by the end of the period.
After starting the period at almost 150 units, sales dropped to around 130 in
August.
With regard to/ Regarding/ As for higher education, the figures are much lower.
Turning to employment at management levels, the United States and Australia
have a similar percentage of managers who are women.
Also worth noting is that Spanish spent more money on toys than on any other
products.
It is clear that agriculture accounted for the largest proportion of water used.
Non-alcoholic drinks accounted for £4.00 of weekly expenditure.
People aged 60 or over accounted for almost a quarter of the Italian
population.
EXAMPLE
Incoming information can be received by satellite.
The weather broadcast is prepared on computers.
The figure illustrates the process used by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
to forecast the weather.
The picture illustrates the way in which water passes from ocean to air to land
during the natural process known as the water cycle.
Firstly, incoming information can be received by satellite and presented for
analysis as a satellite photo.
Secondly, incoming information may be collected directly by radar and analysed
on a radar screen or synoptic chart.
At the third stage (of the process), the weather broadcast is prepared on
computers.
The first stage in the process is that the customer offers to pay by credit card.
During the third stage of the life cycle, the nymph grows in size and sheds its
skin three times.
This information is then analysed, prepared for presentation, and finally
broadcast to the public.
OR
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 Then, this information is analysed, prepared for presentation, and finally
broadcast to the public.
Next, the data is passed to a radar station and presented on a radar screen or
next synoptic chart.
Next, the graded paper is transported to a paper mill.
After the weather broadcast is prepared on computers, it is delivered to the
after
public on television, on the radio, or as a recorded telephone announcement.
Once the consumer’s bank has authorised payment, the goods can be released
once
to the customer.
Following this, all remnants of ink and glue are removed from the paper at the
Following this,
de-inking stage.
Firstly, incoming information can be received by satellite and presented for
Alternatively, analysis as a satellite photo. Alternatively, the same data can be passed to a
radar station and presented on a radar screen or synoptic chart.
Then, clay is passed through a metal grid to be broken into smaller pieces. At the
At the same time,
same time, water is sprayed on top of the clay to keep it wet.
Then, clay is passed through a metal grid to be broken into smaller pieces.
Concurrently,
Concurrently, water is sprayed on top of the clay to keep it wet.
Subsequently, Subsequently, clay is sliced into raw bricks by a wire cutter.

Note: Do not use “after” and “before” like “then” and “next”. For example, the following sentence is
wrong: After, the data is passed to a radar station and presented on a radar screen or synoptic chart.

I. Language for comparison maps

VOCABULARY/GRAMMAR EXAMPLE
Intro:
The maps/diagrams/figures
compare A… with B…

The map shows the

growth/development of
a/an… between [year] and
[year].

The maps/diagrams/figures
Incoming information can be received by satellite.
illustrate some changes
The weather broadcast is prepared on computers.
to…

The map shows two

potential locations for a
new…

The two pictures compare

the current layout of… with
a plan to redesign/renovate
the same space.

(Source: dcielts.com, ielts-simon.com and others)