how to describe a chartgraph or table1 (1)

• The graph illustrates passenger numbers using the London Underground during the course of the day... MAKING A GENERAL STATEMENT ABOUT THE DATA• The graph shows/illustrates how passeng

HOW TO DESCRIBE A CHART,GRAPH OR TABLE

OUTLINE PLAN

• INTRODUCTION:

• Topic sentence describing what the data (displayed as a table, graph or

chart) is about

• GENERAL STATEMENT(S) ABOUT THE DATA:

• What overall trends can you see?

• DETAILED STATEMENTS ABOUT THE DATA :

• Focus on the details that are relevant for your essay.

• CONCLUSION:

• one sentence which sums up what this data tells us or why it is

important to you argument

IDENTIFYING WHAT THE GRAPH IS

PUTTING TOGETHER YOUR

TOPIC SENTENCE

• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:

The graph shows the fluctuation in the number of

people at a London Underground station over the course of a day.

This graph shows the number of passengers travelling

on the London Underground during the day.

• The graph illustrates passenger numbers using the

London Underground during the course of the day

HOW TO DESCRIBE TRENDS

MAKING A GENERAL STATEMENT ABOUT THE DATA

• The graph shows/illustrates how passenger

numbers grow/increase/climb/rise during rush hour.

• The graph shows/illustrates how passenger numbers

fall/decrease/drop/decline/dip when rush hour has ended.

DESCRIBING TRENDS

• GOING INTO DETAIL—You need to describe in detail

particular aspects of the data that prove the point that you are trying to make in the essay

• To do this you can use a verb and an adverb e.g Sales

rose sharply.

• Or an adjective and a noun This is normally used with

There is/are ……

• There was/were…

• There has been / have been…

• e.g There was a sharp rise in sales.

• (Using an adjective and a noun is slightly more formal.)

DESCRIBING UP TRENDS USING NOUNS

rise increase recovery growth

The graph/chart shows a (adjective + noun)…in passenger numbers during……

There is/was a (adjective+noun)…in passenger numbers during………

DESCRIBING UP TRENDS USING

rapidly quickly swiftly slowly steadily immediately

WHICH TENSE SHOULD I USE?

has/have risen has/have

increased has/have recovered has/have gone up has/have grown

DESCRIBING UP TRENDS

Passenger numbers rose considerably between 6am and 8 am with a rise of travellers from 100 to 400

The number of underground travellers increases significantly between the hours

of 6 and 8 am peaking at 400 passengers

Remember to be consistent with your use of tenses!

DESCRIBING DOWN TRENDS USING

NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

fall decrease decline dropping off

The graph/chart shows a (adjective + noun)…in passenger numbers during……

There is/was a (adjective+noun)…in passenger numbers during………

DESCRIBING DOWN TRENDS

rapidly quickly swiftly slowly steadily immediately

WHICH TENSE SHOULD I USE?

level off/levels off

drop off/drops off

fell decreased declined went down levelled off dropped off

has/have fallen has/have decreased has/have declined has/have gone down

has/have levelled off has/have dropped off

DESCRIBING DOWN TRENDS

The number of passengers decreased consistently after 8 am from 400

passengers down to 200 by 10 am

Passenger numbers drop off steadily after 8 am to reach 200 by 10 am

Remember to be consistent with your use of tenses!

HOW TO DESCRIBE TRENDS

MORE VERBS AND NOUNS

WHICH TENSE SHOULD I USE

fluctuated peaked

have/has flattened out have/has stabilised have/has levelled off have/has held steady have/has remained stable

have/has not changed have/has continued to

be stable have/has fluctuated have/has peaked

DESCRIBING OTHER TRENDS

Passenger numbers peak at 8 am reaching 400 and again later in the

DESCRIBING OTHER TRENDS

Passenger numbers flatten out between the hours of 12 and 2 pm where they remain at 300

Passenger numbers stabilised from 12pm to 2 pm where they remained at 300

Remember to be consistent with your use of tenses!

DESCRIBING OTHER TRENDS

Passenger numbers fluctuate considerably throughout the day recording the biggest fluctuations between rush hour

Passenger numbers fluctuated significantly during the day peaking at 400 and dropping off to 100

Remember to be consistent with your use of tenses!

AND FINALLY……….

SUMMING UP/CONCLUDING

· In summary we can see that

· To sum up

· In conclusion it can be seen that….

· It can be concluded from the data/information that…

· Overall the data shows/indicates/suggests…

· Summarising the findings it can be seen that

· Overall it appears that

YOUR CONCLUSION

In summary we can see that the busiest times on the London Underground are at 8 am and at 6 pm The quietest times are 6 am, 4 pm and after 8 pm Passenger numbers remain quite steady during the day

Remember to be consistent with your use of tenses!

Making Comparisons

In IELTS task 1, you must also compare the data as

you are asked to do in the rubric.

If you just write about what happened to ActiveX,

what happened to Java, and what happened to Net,

without showing any relationship between them, this won’t be enough.

Here are some examples of where comparisons are

made between the products in the IELTS task 1 graph, and the language of comparison is highlighted in

bold / red:

Grouping the Data

It is a good idea to divide your answer into

paragraphs so it is well organized To do this, you