Descr

ibi
ngTr
ends
I
nIELTSwriti
ngtask1y
oumayhavetodescr
ibe
t
rends.Thi
smaycomeupinalinegr
aph,
barchartor
whencomparingmoret
hanonechar
t.

Ther
earetwomai ngrammat
ical
str
uct
ureswecan
usetodescr
ibet
rends.

1.Ther
e+be+adj
.+noun+i
n+nounphr
ase
Exampl
e:
Ther
ewasagradualr
isei
nthepri
ceofoi
l.
Ther
ehasbeenasharpdr
opinthepr
iceofoi
l
.

Possi
bleadj
ect
ives: Possi
blenouns:

 Gradual vari
ation
 Moder ate decli
ne
 Modest decrease
 Sli
ght dip
 Sharp drop
 Dramat i
c fal
l
 Steep peak
 Steady fl
uctuation
 Signi
ficant growth
 considerabl
e increase
 rapid ri
se
 constant slump
2.Nounphr
ase+v
erb+adv
erb
Exampl
e:
Thepri
ceofoi
lrosegr
aduall
y.
Thepri
ceofoi
lhasri
sendramati
cal
l
y.

Possi
bleadv
erbs Possi
blev
erbs:
 Gradually ri
se
 Moder ately j
ump
 Modest ly grow
 Sharply cli
mb
 Dramat icall
y i
ncr ease
 gradually rocket
 si
gnificantly surge
 sl
owl y fall
 consider abl
y drop
 sl
ightly decline
 steeply decr ease
 steadily godown
 rapidly plummet
 speedi l
y plunge

Describi
ngI ncreasesandDecreases
Whendescr i
binganyoft hechart
sinIELTSwr i
ti
ng
task1, y
oumi ghthavetodescri
beincreasesand
decreases.Ther earethr
eemai nwaysy oucan
descri
bei ncreasesanddecreases.
1.Nounphr
ase+v
erb+adv
erb
Exampl
e:
Thepri
ceofproper
tyf
ell
sharpl
y
Thepercent
ageofhomesdroppeddr
amat
ical
l
y.
2. Ther
e+be+noun+i
n+nounphr
ase
Exampl
e:
Ther
ewasafall
inl
i
ter
acyl
evel
s.
Ther
ehasbeenani
ncr
easei
nthecostofcof
fee.
3.Usi
ngf
ract
ions
Exampl
e:
Thepri
ceofoil
 hal
ved 
inl
essthanay ear
.
Thepri
ceofoilhas 
hal
ved 
sinceJul
y.
ByJul
y,thepr
iceofoil
has 
halved.

MakingCompar isons
IELTSwriti
ngtask1wi l
lof
tenrequi
reyoutomake
compar i
sonsbetweendatasources,gr
oupsand
times.Herear
ef iv
egrammat i
calst
ruct
uresyoucan
usetomakecompar i
sons.

1.Mor
e/f
ew/
less+noun+t
han
Exampl e:
Ov eral
l
,morepeopl
epr
efer
redpubl
i
ctr
anspor
tthan
taxis.
2.
ofonesy
ll
abl
e-er+t
han
Example:
Ahighernumberofpeopl
epr
efer
redpubl
i
ctr
anspor
t
thantaxi
s.
3.Mor
e/l
ess+adj
.ofmor
ethanonesy
ll
abl
e+t
han
Exampl
e:
Taxi
sweremor
epopul
art
hanpubl
i
ctr
anspor
t.

4.ofonesy
ll
abl
e-est
.
Exampl
e: 
Thehi
ghest%ofcommut
erspr
efer
redt
axi
s.

5.
Themost
/l
east+adj
.ofmor
ethanonesy
ll
abl
e.
Example:
Theleastpopul
armodeoft
ranspor
twasbuses.

Summar i
sing
IELTSwr i
ti
ngt ask1i sessent
iall
yasummar i
singt
ask.
Yourov er
viewpar agraph 
shouldcontaintwoorthr
ee
sentencessummar isi
ngthemai nfeaturesoft
he
graph.Inordertohel pyoudot hi
s,her
ear esome
shortphrases.

 Tosummarise,t
hemostmar kedchangei
s….
 Over
all
iti
sclear
….
 Over
all
themajori
ty/
minori
ty….
 I
nsum, t
hemostnot i
ceabl
etrendi
s….
Don’tsay‘
toconcl
ude’
.Thi
sisonl
yfordi
scur
siv
e
essays.

Tenses

Usingt
heappropr
iat
etensesi
nIELTSwri
ti
ngtask1i
s
essent
ial
ify
ouwanttogetahighbandscor
e.

Thekeyi stol
ookattheti
tl
eofthechartandthe
i
nf or
mationcont
ainedonbothaxist
oestabli
shwhat
ti
mef rameisused.Thi
swillhel
pyouestabl
ishwhat
tenseyoushoulduse.

Exampl
e:
 I
fthetimeisonepoi nti
nthepast,forexample
January1990,thenweshoulduset he 
pasttense.
 I
fithasprojecti
onsfort
hefuture,f
orexampl e
2045,weuse  f
utur
etenses.
 I
tthereisnot i
me,weuse presentsimple.
Belowarear angeoftensesthatcouldbeusedint
ask
1.Remember ,thetenseyouusewi l
ldependonthe
i
nformati
ondi spl
ayedinthegraph.Thisi
snota
complet
el i
stoftensesandanawar enessofall
the
Engli
shtenseswi l
lhelpyouachi
evetheIELTSscore
youneed.

1.Pr
esentPer
fect
:
Weuset histensegener
all
ytotalkaboutanact
ion
thathappenedatanunspecif
iedtimebefor
enow.The
exactti
meper iodi
snotimportant
.
Inwri
ti
ngtask1,
weuset hi
stenset
otalkabout
changesi
ndatathathav
ehappenedoveraperi
odof
ti
me.

Exampl
e
Thepri
ceofoi
lhasf
all
enby$5abar
rel
ever
yweek
si
nceJuly
.

2.Pr
esentPer
fectCont
inuous
Weusethi
stensetoshowthatsomethi
ngst
art
edi
n
t
hepastandhasconti
nuedupunti
lnow.

Example
Oilpr
iceshav
ebeendecr
easi
ngsi
nceJul
y.

3.Fut
urePer
fect
Weusethi
stensetostat
ethatsomet
hingwi
l
lbe
f
ini
shedbyapart
icul
arti
meinthefut
ure.

Weof
tenusei
twi
th‘
by’
or‘
i
n’.

Example
Thepri
ceofoi
lwi
l
lhav
ereached$300abar
rel
by
2020.

4.PastSi
mpl
e
Uset hi
stenset
otal
kaboutanact
ionthatst
art
edand
fi
nishedataspeci
fi
cti
meinthepast
.
Example
Thepri
ceofoi
lfel
lfr
om $150i
nJan2014t
o$50i
n
Jan2015.

Approximati
ons,PercentagesandFracti
ons
I
nmanyoft heIELTSwr i
tingtask1questi
ons,
y ouwil
l
havet odealwi
thpercentages.Thisi
sagood
opportuni
tytoexpressthesepercent
agesina
dif
ferentwayandboosty ourscore.Awayofv ary
ing
thi
slanguageistoexpresst hem asf
racti
onsor
proporti
ons.

Rememberthatyoushoul dvar
yyourlanguageas
muchaspossibleinordertoscor
ehighinthe‘l
exi
cal
resour
ce’
partofthetest.

Iti
sal
sofinetouseapproxi
mati
ons,
forexampl
e,49%
canbeexpressedasnearl
yahal
f.

Belowarearangeofexpr
essi
onst
hatcanbeusedt
o
expressper
cent
ages.

Fract
ions
73%-nearlythr
eequart
ers
51%-justoverahalf
49%-justunderahalf
32%-nearlyathir
d
3%-atinyfr
acti
on
50%-exactl
yahalf
26%-roughl
yonequart
er
49%-aroundahalf
24%-almostaquart
er
77%-approxi
matel
ythr
eequar
ter
s

Propor
ti
ons
70%-alargepropor t
ion
71%-asignifi
cantmaj or
it
y
15%asmal lminori
ty
3%-aninsignif
icantminori
ty