IELTS task 1 map vocabulary

IELTS task 1 map vocabulary, grammar, prepositions and phrases

Task 1 map questions usually consist of two maps which have undergone a change.

The maps are usually of a landscape, an island or a town.

The question rubric asks you to:

‘Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and
make comparisons where necessary.’

The consensus is to assign around 20 mins and to write at least 150 words.

Key terms of position

Cardinal directions (compass points)

The four cardinal directions, or compass points, are the directions north, east, south, and west.

Points between the four main cardinal directions are the intercardinal directions. These are
northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest.

Also note that in English you do not need a capital letter for them – they can work as adjectives
– in the southwestern corner / or simply in the north east as a noun.

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 Vocabulary for cardinal directions (Compass points)

 North
 South
 East
 West
 North east
 North west
 South east
 South west

Adverbs and prepositions of Place

There are currently 18,300,000 articles already published on this subject, so no need to go into
detail here.

However, here are a few advanced prepositions and adverbs I couldn't resist including:

Perpendicular to - at right angles to.

The main road is perpendicular to the train station.

Clockwise - following the rotating direction of the clock hands.

Moving in a clockwise direction from the hospital, we can see the new car park.

Along - nearby

Along the roadside we can see a new retail area and more office developments.

 To the north/To the west/ To the east/To the south

 In

 At

 Beside

 On

 Under

 Below

 Above

 Far

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  Near

 Between

 Around

 Next to

 By

 Across from

 Over

 Along

 In front of

 In the middle of/In the centre of

 Beyond

 Inside/outside

 To the left of/To the right of

Vocabulary for Map description verbs

Here we have included verbs for describing maps and change.

Build: Three new hospitals were built.

Construct: A new road was constructed next to the town.

Extend: The main road into town was extended by 20 meters.

Expand: The car park was expanded to accommodate an extra 50 cars.

Span: The bridge spans the width of the river.

Remove: The developers removed the old post box near the retail area.

 Build

 Construct

 Demolished

 Knocked-down

 Renovated

 Reconstruct

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  Developed

 Extended

 Expanded

 Converted

 Modernized

 Located/situated

 Cleared

 Removed

 Planted

 Chopped-down

Vocabulary for Map Area: length, width, depth and height

We use the nouns length, width, depth and height and the adjectives long, wide, deep and high
to talk about area and size.

Source. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/measurements

The width of the carpark is over 100 meters

The length of the pond is probably just under 20 meters.

The height of the first building is almost 70 meters.

Length

Depth

Deep

Long

Wide

Height

High

Width

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Map specific vocabulary

Vocabulary for city/town

Community greens: Shared open green spaces in residential neighborhoods.

Green belt: A policy used in urban planning to retain a “belt” of the natural environment around
urban areas.

Greenfield land: Untouched and pristine land. Fields and forests.

Greyfield land: Buildings or real estate land that is economically useless. Disused car parks or
abandoned factories.

Grid plan: A plan in the shape of a grid.

Pavement / sidewalk: The part of the street dedicated to just pedestrians.

Roundabout: circular intersection for leaving and entering other roadways.

Roadside: The side of the road. At the roadside there are three retailers.

Zone of transition: An area that is moving from one status to another. The area between the city
centre and the green belt.

Community greens

Township

Satellite town

Eco town

Metropolis

Green belt

Greenfield land

Inner-city

Upmarket shops

Greyfield land

Grid plan

Pavement/sidewalk

Roundabout

Roadside

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Transition zone

Landscape

Astonishing Landscapes

Bay: small sea

Archipelago: a group of islands

Bog: wet spongy ground, swamp

Canal: man made navigable water way

Canyon: deep, narrow valley with steep sides, carved by a river

Hedge: row of shrubs forming a boundary

Moor: open land on hills with shrubs, heath

Strait: narrow waterway connecting two large bodies of water

Stream: very small river

Summit: highest point of a mountain

Tide: rise and fall of sea level

Tributary: stream leading to a bigger river

Valley: long depression between two hills

Paraphrases for maps

While paraphrasing you need to notice some of the words which will give different meanings.
Here are some of the examples for how to rephrase and how not to.

 Town center - rephrase it as centre of the town not city center

 Road - don’t rephrase it as street

 Housing area - residential area

 Located - situated/lies

 Path - way

 Area - field

 Entrance - doorway

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Grammar for Map

You need to focus on learning these grammatical structures and tenses for the writing task 1
map.

 Past tense

 Present perfect passive

 Present passive

 Future passive

 Perfect passive

 Present perfect

Present passive

Overall there are significant changes can be found in the island particularly the new
accommodation facilities.

 Future passive

Overall, the resort will be built on the island and will include a hotel, a reception, houses, an
artIficial lake and a pier.

 Perfect passive

Overall, the island has been transformed into a new resort which includes…

IELTS map writing vocabulary

Following vocabulary will help you to maintain the structure of the essay. Below given are the
most important IELTS writing task 1 map vocabulary words that helps you to write without
struggling and achieve band 9 score.

Introduction

 Illustrates

 Describes

 Demonstrates

 Represent

 Reflects

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  Shows

 According to

 Provides detail of

 Gives information about

System of Coordinates

 Axis

 Trend

 Coordinate

 Vertical axis Y

 Horizontal axis X

Movement

 Go up

 Increase

 Peak

 Jump

 Rise

 Come down

 Decrease

 Decline

 Fall

 Fluctuate

Description

 Over the time period

 Estimated

 Gradually

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  Rapidly

 Further

 Account for

 Projected

 Substantially

Conclusion

 Was reported

 On the other hand

 Overall

 It can be concluded that

 To summarize

 In total

 At the end

Example sentences

 On the western side - On the western side of the lake there are no longer any greyfield
sites or wasteland.

 In the north western corner - In the north western corner of the rubric we can see the
tallest of the three buildings.

 To the south - To the south of the lake we can see a new footpath, leading to a lake.

 In the centre - In the center of the island there is a new hotel.

 To the east of - To the east of the first car park we can see three new buildings.

 Significant - There were significant developments in the second map.

Example sentences

 The hospital is located in the southeast side of the road

 In the year, there was a decrease in rainfall

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 The village had developed over the period of time

 There was rapid growth in the trees.

 Buildings were expanded in these years.

 There was a shop in the middle of the street.

 Roundabout was developed at the junction of the road.

 The depth of the pond was above 20 metres.

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