Useful Phrases for IELTS Writing Task 1

With a partner, brainstorm at least two phrases into each of the categories below.

• Explaining what the task shows (in the first sentence of the essay)
• Explaining the paragraph structure
• Selecting the most important information/ Giving overall information
• Mentioning parts of what the page shows (= Giving details about the graph etc)
• Upward trends
• Downward trends
• Going up and down
• Not changing
• Big changes
• Small changes
• Comparing
• Contrasting
• Sequencing
• Starting the second main paragraph (= the second paragraph of the body of the text)
• Conclusion/ Summary (only if you can’t find another way of reaching 150 words)

 

Useful Phrases for IELTS Writing Part One Suggested Answers

     1. Explaining what the task shows

         ✓  The table/ pie chart/ bar chart/ line graph/ map/ flow chart/ diagram/ illustration/ figures…
         ✓… shows/ represents/ gives data on/ presents statistics on/ compares…
         ✓… information/ data/ figures…
         ✓  The vertical axis/ y axis is…
         ✓  The horizontal axis/ x axis represents…
      
     2. Explaining the paragraph structure
       
         ✓  These two sources of information will be examined in turn.
         ✓  I will start by explaining…/ First, I will look at…/ First of all, I will focus on…/ Firstly, I will
         ✓  describe…
         ✓  In the next paragraph I will…/ and the following paragraph will…/ and then I will…/ … and
         ✓  after that I will…/ and the final paragraph will be on…
         ✓  The information will be divided into… and… and looked at in that order.

     3. Selecting the most important information/ Giving overall information
 
         ✓ … stands out (because…)
         ✓  The first thing you notice looking at the graph is…
         ✓  The biggest/ largest/ most noticeable/ most important/ most obvious + difference/
         ✓  similarity/ trend is…
         ✓  Overall,…
         ✓  The main trend…
         ✓  Over the entire period shown,…
         ✓  It can be said that in general,…

     4. Mentioning parts of what the page shows

         ✓  The left-hand column/ first column/ middle column/ second column/ third column/ last
         ✓  column/ right-hand column
         ✓  The top row/ first row/ second row/ last row/ bottom row
         ✓  stage of the process
         ✓  in the North/ Northwest/ Southeast
         ✓  top right/ bottom left/ middle/ centre
         ✓  segment
         ✓  arrow
         ✓  axis/ axes

     5. Upward trends

         ✓  To rise/ go up/ increase/ escalate/ climb/ grow/ expand/ soar/ take off
         ✓  (nearly) double/ triple
         ✓  A rise/ An increase
         ✓  Reach a new high
         ✓  Plateau

     6. Downward trends

         ✓  To drop/ fall/ dive/ plunge/ crash/ decline/ decrease/ deteriorate/ plummet
         ✓  A drop/ A fall/ A crash/ A decline/ A decrease/ A deterioration
         ✓  Bottom out
         ✓  Shrink
         ✓  (nearly) halve

     7. Going up and down

         ✓  Fluctuate/ Be unstable
         ✓  Reach a peak
         ✓  Recover/ Bounce back/ Pick up

     8. Not changing

         ✓  Remain stable
         ✓  Flatten out

     9. Big changes

         ✓  Significant(ly)/ Substantial(ly)/ Dramatic(ally)/ Considerable(/bly), Sharp(ly)
         ✓  Dive/ Plunge/ Crash/ Plummet
         ✓  Rocket/ Shoot up/ Soar/ Take off

     10. Small changes

         ✓  Slight(ly)/ Gradual(ly)
         ✓  Creep up

     11. Comparing

         ✓  (far/ much/ substantially/ significantly/ slightly) …er/ more/ less…
         ✓  (not) as…as…
         ✓  (very) similar/ almost the same/ almost identical
         ✓  in some ways similar to…
         ✓  Comparing the… with/ to…

     12. Contrasting

         ✓  While…,…
         ✓  In contrast,…
         ✓  … shows a rather/ very different pattern/ trend.
         ✓  We can contrast this with…
         ✓  … is almost the exact opposite.
         ✓  … is (a/ the) (major) exception…

     13. Sequencing

         ✓  Some time later…
         ✓  After that…
         ✓  The next/ following stage is…
         ✓  This is followed by…
         ✓  This reoccurs…
         ✓  In the following hours/ days/ weeks/ months/ years,…
         ✓  Subsequently,…
         ✓  …, after which…
         ✓  As soon as…,…

     14. Starting the second main paragraph (= the second paragraph of the body of the text)

         ✓  Looking at…
         ✓  Moving on to…
         ✓  Turning our attention to…
         ✓  In contrast to the… above,…

     15. Conclusion/ Summary (only if you can’t find another way of reaching 150 words)

         ✓  We can therefore see that…
         ✓  Together, the graph and bar chart show that…



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