25/2/2016 Describing trends by Viv Quarry Describing Trends By Viv Quarry (www.vivquarry.com) When describing changes in data represented in a graph or bar chart, the following structures are common: Adjective and Noun Time @ Adjective Noun steep In February sharp considerable Between March there was a marked rise and June increase in the (variable*) Since 1992*** there has been steady a*** gradual from ** to ** From January to fall May small drop slight Verb and Adverb Time @ Variable Verb Adverb In February rose/risen steeply increased sharply Between March went up considerably and April markedly Since 1992*** the (variable*) has gone from ** to ** up*** steadily went down gradually From January to fell September has fallen*** slightly dropped a little @ The time reference can come first or last * the price of sth, the number of sth, sales, profits etc ** a number, an amount of money, a percentage etc *** Don't forget that if the data represented forms a link between the past and the present, the present perfect simple should be used The highest point, the lowest point and no change in a trend Time @ Variable Feature Amount In February peaked Between March reached a peak http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/trends.html 1/2 25/2/2016 and April Since 1992*** Describing trends by Viv Quarry the (variable*) From January to September (has***) levelled off/out remained steady/stable reached its lowest point at ** Additional expressions Plunge (verb & noun) and plummet (verb only), (take a) tumble and take a nose dive (idioms) are very sharp drops Dip (verb & noun) is a slight fall against the trend Shoot up/down (phrasal verb) means to rise or fall very sharply Describing trends practice exercise Back to vocabulary worksheets http://www.vivquarry.com/wkshts/trends.html 2/2