GRAPHS WITH TRENDS

1. What to do

1.1. Introduction (1 sentence)

- Rewrite the introduction in your own words.
- Some useful phrases:
+ The graph shows data/information about…
+ The graph illustrates/indicates/depicts/gives/… information about…
+ The graph gives/explains reasons why
+ The graph compares changes in…
1.2. Overview (1-2 sentences)
- Should write the general movement of the lines over the period (go up/go
down/fluctuate..)
- Write about another interesting fact in the graph (if have time)
- Describe the general trends in the overview if don’t have much time
- Indicate the most prominent factor(s) (general trend, highest/lowest, etc.)
1.3 Details (3-4 sentences for each paragraph)
- Describe the change in the data depicted in the chart
2. Useful phrases
a. Adverb
- Dramatic change: dramatically / rapidly / sharply / significantly/ considerably /
substantially / noticably/ tremendously
- Moderate change: moderately / gradually / progressively / sequentially.
- Slight change: slightly / slowly / mildly / tediously.
- No change: steadily / constantly / invariably.
b. Verb
- Describe increases: went up, grew, improved, increased, rose
- Describe decreases: declined, decreased, dropped, fell, went down, reduced
- Describe big increases: doubled, jumped, rocketed, shot up, soared, surged,
leaped, hit/reached a peak
- Describe big decreases: halved, plummeted, plunged, sunk, slumped,
collapsed, worsened, hit a trough
- Describe no change: stabilized, remained constant, steady, static, plateaued,
leveled off
- Describe up and down: fluctuated, erratic, varied, unstabled, oscillated
c. Preposition
- Tại một số liệu cụ thể, dùng AT
- Khi nhắc tới sự thay đổi tới một số liệu nào đó, dùng TO
- Dao động trong khoảng, dùng BETWEEN
- Thay đổi tăng hoặc giảm một mức xác định, dùng BY
d. Linking words
- Từ nối cho đối tượng tiếp theo: Next/ then/ subsequently/ after that/ followed by/
after which/ after…
- Từ nối cho đối tượng diễn ra cùng thời gian: At the same time/ meanwhile/ while/
thereby…
3. Sentence structures
● S + V + adv + number + time
Eg. The number of people commuting by car + increased + significantly + from 1
to 5 million + between 2011 and 2016.

● There + be + a/an + adj + N + in S + number + time

Eg. There + was + a + significant + increase + in the number of people commuting
by car + from 1 to 5 million + between 2011 and 2016.

● S + experience/ witness/ see + a/an + adj + N + number + time

Eg. The number of people commuting by car + experienced + a + significant + rise
+ from 1 to 5 million + between 2011 and 2016.

4. Tips
➢ Try to comment on the data, rather than just give a list of numbers. Add one or
two comments to show that you understand and can interpret the graph. Here
are some ways you can do this.
• Compare the different parts of the graph, using a relative clause
Eg: The income of Lovely Loaves fell significantly to around £40,000 in 2008,
which meant that it earned far less than the other bakeries.
• Comment on the peak
Eg: There was a considerable rise in the takings of Robbie's Bakery in the last two
years to £105,000, this figure being the peak level of income during the whole
period.
• Add an extra verb to give emphasis
Eg: The income of Robbie's Bakery rose sharply in 2008, rocketing to just under
£100,000.
• Add a superlative
Eg: Lovely Loaves earned just over £80,000 in 2000. This meant that it had the
highest income of the three bakeries in that year.
• Group data into a period of time
Eg: There was a significant fluctuation in the income of Lovely Loaves in the first
half of the decade.
GRAPHS WITHOUT TRENDS

- Include comparisons of different data of the graph (Comparative &

Superlative). It may have 2 or more than 2 objects to compare.
- Cấu trúc chung 1 bài Writing Without Trends:
+ Intro: Keep it clear and simple: Describe the main idea of the first
graph and use a linker to explain the other (paraphrase)
Ex: The chart + compares + countries + in terms of + tiêu chí/
thông tin so sánh
+ Overview: Pick 2-3 pieces of key/most significant information to write
about: look at each column, then follow the row to select the highest
or lowest number + interesting info (if possible)
+ Body:
● Divide the subjects into appropriate body paragraphs, to make
sure the length of each paragraph is the same.
● It is also important to use the languages that we listed below to
increase your lexical mark.
- Comparative structures:
+ X is not as….as Y (Ex: Coffee in France is not as expensive as in the UK)
+ X is nowhere near as … as Y
+ X is not quite as … as Y
+ X is not nearly as … as Y
+ Comparatives/superlatives
+ Not + verb + as many/much + Noun as
- Linking devices when presenting data: WHILE/ AS OPPOSED TO/
WHEREAS/ COMPARED TO
+ Ex 1: A hundred couples chose the name James in 2000, compared
to 20 who opted for the name Peter
+ Ex 2: A hundred couples chose the name James in 2000, whereas
just 20 couples opted for the name Peter.
=> Chú ý: Khi sử dụng các từ nối này, cần lưu ý:
+ Whereas/While: followed by a S-V-O clause.
 + As opposed to/Compared to: Followed by a relative clause.
- Numerical comparatives: (So sánh Sử dụng cấu trúc Gấp mấy lần)
+ To add style and flexibility to the way you write and compare
information -> using numerical comparatives: half, twice, three
times,...
Eg 1: Croissants are three times as popular as cakes for young
people.
Eg 2: Three times as many young people said they preferred
croissants than cakes.
Eg 3: The number of people who adored croissants is three times
bigger than those who liked cakes.
- Adverb comparatives:
+ Big difference: much, a lot, considerably, far,...
+ Small difference: slightly, a bit, a little, minimally,...
- Ranking:
+ In first/second place is/was
+ Top/bottom of the list is/was
+ First/last on the list
+ The number one/two/.. is/was
+ ... was ranked second with
+ First/Last on the list..
+ ... headed the list with ...
+ Ranked in third ..... was …
+ The most / second most / next most / least popular is/was...
+ Next came ...
+ This was followed by…
- List/ Rank/ Compare:
+ Playing a team sport was next on the list at 54%, making it slightly
more popular than listening to music at 53%.
+ Team sports were the second most popular activity at 54%, just
ahead of listening to music at 53%.
+ Shopping came next at 10%, although this was much less popular
than socializing. at 20%.
+ Socializing was next at 20%, which was twice as popular as shopping,
with 10%.
 + Fifty-four per cent of people said they played a team sport in
December, slightly more than the number who listened to music, with
53%.
+ Second on the list were team sports at 54%, while listening to music
was slightly less popular at 53%.

- Describing numbers:
+ 50%: half
+ 25%: a/one quarter
+ 75% three-quarters
+ 33.3%: a/one third
+ 40%: two-fifths
+ 10%: a/one tenth
+ 66.6%: two-thirds

SAMPLE

The table compares the proportions of people who rode a bike, by age and
gender, in 2011.
In general, children under nine years old used bicycles the most, while middle-
aged people were the least likely to ride a bicycle. Also, men tended to cycle more
than women during the period shown.
Among males, children under 9 years old made up the largest proportion of
cyclists, at 52%. However, with the older groups, the rates fell to 42% for
teenagers aged from 10 to 17, and 17% for people aged between 18 and 39. The
proportion of 40 to 50 year old male cyclists was the lowest, at just 12%, while this
activity was a little more common among men aged over 60, with nearly a fifth
riding a bicycle.
The percentage of girls who cycled younger than 9 years old was nearly the same
as that of boys, at over a half. However, the figure for girls aged 10 to 17 was just
under a quarter, much lower than that of their counterparts. Similar to men of the
same age groups, women aged 40 to 50, and 60 or over, did not prefer cycling
very much, making up only 8% and 14% of total female participants respectively.
 GRAPHS WITH A FUTURE TREND

- Instead of using the past simple, change the grammar and use future tenses.
- In some graphs you may be given a time frame that includes the past and the future .
In this case you need to be very careful that you are using the past tense when
appropriate, and the future tense when appropriate.

- Some structures for the graphs with a future trend:

+ It is + predicted/forecasted/expected/suggested/likely + that + S + will + V-inf.
+ S + is/are +predicted/forecast/expected/suggested/likely + to V-inf.

- Some useful phrases:

● is / are predicted to
● is/are estimated that
● is /are set to
● is / are anticipated that
● is / are projected to
● is/are forecasted to
● is/are likely to

- Time phrases: over the next 5 years

- near the end of the period

- toward the end of the period

- in the next decade/ in + number + years

- by+years in future

- by the end of

- Sample:

1/ Subject + will + Verb + Object + preposition + time.

Vd: The city will construct a new civic center by 2023.
2/ According to current + Object (plural), there will be + Subject + preposition +
time.
Vd: According to current predictions, there will be a new civic center in the city by
2023.
3/ According to current + Object (plural), Subject + will + Verb + preposition +
time.
Vd: According to current predictions, the city will build a new civic center by 2023.
4/ It is + past participle + that + Subject + will + Verb + Object + preposition +
time.
Vd: It is predicted that the city will construct a new civic center by 2023.
5/ Subject + is/are + past participle + to + Verb ( infinitive) + preposition + time.
Vd: The proportion of the world's population is expected to double between 2023
and 2030.
6/ Subject + is/are + likely + to + Verb ( infinitive) + preposition + time.
Vd: The proportion of the world's population is likely to double between 2023 and
2024.
(Các bạn lưu ý là phần “time” có thể đặt linh hoạt đầu hoặc cuối câu để câu được đa
dạng hơn nha.)