how to describe a chartgraph or table1 (1)

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 ABOUT KEY WORDS: London Underground Number of passengers/people Travelling/using the underground during the day 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 GO UP GO DOWN • • • • • • increase fall climb grow rise decrease drop dip decline 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 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 AND ADJECTIVES A ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE (amount of change ) (speed of change) dramatic sharp substantial considerable significant slight consistent rapid quick swift slow steady immediate NOUN 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 VERBS VERBS rise increase recover go up grow ADVERBS ADVERBS (amount of change ) (speed of change) dramatically sharply substantially considerably significantly slightly consistently rapidly quickly swiftly slowly steadily immediately WHICH TENSE SHOULD I USE? SIMPLE PRESENT rise/rises Increase/increases recover/recovers go up/goes up grow/grows SIMPLE PAST rose increased recovered went up grew PRESENT PERFECT has/have risen has/have increased has/have recovered has/have gone up has/have grown WHICH TENSE SHOULD I USE? SIMPLE PRESENT fall/falls decrease/decreases decline/declines go down/goes down level off/levels off drop off/drops off SIMPLE PAST fell decreased declined went down levelled off dropped off PRESENT PERFECT 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 am from 400 passengers down to 200 by 10 am Passenger numbers drop off steadily after am to reach 200 by 10 am Remember to be consistent with your use of tenses! HOW TO DESCRIBE TRENDS •remain steady •fluctuate •increase slightly •decrease dramatically •decrease slightly •increase rapidly •rise dramatically •plunge •drop suddenly •stay the same •go up a little •go down slightly MORE VERBS AND NOUNS VERBS NOUNS NO CHANGE flatten out stabilise level off hold steady remain stable not change continue to be stable UP AND DOWN fluctuate TO ITS MAXIMUM POINT peak NO CHANGE a flattening out a stabilisation a levelling off UP AND DOWN a fluctuation TO ITS MAXIMUM POINT a peak WHICH TENSE SHOULD I USE SIMPLE PRESENT SIMPLE PAST flatten out/flattens out stabilise/stabilises level off/levels off hold steady/holds steady remain stable/remains stable do/does not change continue/continues to be stable flattened out stabilised levelled off held steady remained stable did not change continued to be stable fluctuate/fluctuates 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 fluctuated peaked peak/peaks PRESENT PERFECT have/has peaked DESCRIBING OTHER TRENDS Passenger numbers peak at am reaching 400 and again later in the afternoon at 6pm The number of travellers using the underground peaked during the morning and evening rush hour at am and pm when they reached 400 Remember to be consistent with your use of tenses! DESCRIBING OTHER TRENDS Passenger numbers flatten out between the hours of 12 and pm where they remain at 300 Passenger numbers stabilised from 12pm to 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 am and at pm The quietest times are am, pm and after 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 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 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 this, you should group similar things together into paragraphs or sections If you look at the chart, you will see that ActiveX and Java have a similar pattern, both steadily increasing over the period (apart from the slight fall of ActiveX in week 4), so these could be put together ... be stable fluctuate/fluctuates 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... IELTS task 1, you must also compare the data as you are asked to in the rubric If you just write about what happened to ActiveX, what happened to Java, and what happened to Net, without showing any... aspects of the data that prove the point that you are trying to make in the essay • To this you can use a verb and an adverb e.g Sales rose sharply • Or an adjective and a noun This is normally used