Lesson 5: Describing Graph Trends

This exercise introduces some common vocabulary and grammar needed for
describing graph trends.
The language that can be used for describing graphs in IELTS is extensive.
This lesson introduces some of the most common language used.
It also shows you how it can be used grammatically in sentences.

Vocabulary for Describing Graph Trends

Word

Part of Speech

Example Sentence

Total
expenditure
verb:
to
increase,
is
increased
from
increasing, has increased,
$33,611m to $39,165m
increased
from 1995 to 1996.
increas
e
noun: an increase of From 1995 to 1996
$5,554m
there was an increase
an increase in spending of in
expenditure
of
$5,554m
$5,554m.
Expenditure on primary
verb:
to
decrease,
is
education decreased
decreasing, has decreased,
from 22.2% to 21.5%
decrea decreased
from 1995 to 1996.
se
noun: a decrease of 0.7% From 1995 to 1996
a decrease in spending of there was a decrease
0.7%
in expenditure of 0.7%.

rise

fall

Total expenditure rose

verb: to rise, is rising, has from
$33,611m
to
risen, rose
$39,165m from 1995 to
1996.
From 1995 to 1996
noun: a rise of $5,554m
there was a rise in
a rise in spending of
expenditure
of
$5,554m
$5,554m.
verb: to fall, is falling, has Expenditure on primary
fallen, fell
education
fell
from

22.2% to 21.5% from

1995 to 1996.
From 1995 to 1996
noun: a fall of 0.7%
there was a fall in
a fall in spending of 0.7%
expenditure of 0.7%.

drop

Expenditure on primary
verb: to drop, is dropping, education
dropped
has dropped, dropped
from 22.2% to 21.5%
from 1995 to 1996.
From 1995 to 1996
noun: a drop of 0.7%
there was a drop in
a drop in spending of 0.7%
expenditure of 0.7%.

-ing
forms

After an introductory clause Spending rose in all

that
includes
some three
years,
analysis; e.g. 'Spending increasing from 17.6%
rose in all three years', an to 18% from 1995 to
'_ing' form can be used to 1996, and then rising
describe
numbers
and again to 18.2% in 1997dates.
8.

Practice
Have a look at the table below.
Then, to help you with describing graph trends, decide which word should go
in the gap in the example answer.
Expenditure on Education in Hong Kong 1995 to 1998
Breakdown
spending

of

1995-6

1996-7

1997-8

Total expenditure ($
33,611
million)

39,165

45,315

As % of government
17.6%
budget

18%

18.2%

21.5%
33.2%

21.6%
33.5%

% spent on

primary
education

22.2%
33.7%

secondary
education

tertiary
education

35.9%

36.7%

35.9%

Describing Graph Trends - Gap Fill

Public expenditure on education in Hong Kong (1) _____________ continuously
from 1995 to 1998. In academic year 1995-6 it (2)_________________
HK$33,611 million, (3)______________ to $39,165 million in 1996-7 and
$45,315 million in 1997-8. As a percentage of the governments budget
spending on education also increased (4)______ year, from 17.6% to 18% and
then to 18.2%.
However, the percentage of expenditure spent on primary, secondary and
tertiary education did not show the same consistent (5)_______. In 1995-6
expenditure on primary education was 22.2% of the education budget,
33.7% (6)_________ on secondary, and 35.9% on tertiary.
In 1996, (7) ____________ of 0.8% in spending on tertiary education was
financed by a (8)_________ in spending of 0.7% in primary and 0.5% in
secondary schooling.
In 1997-8 tertiary spending as a percent of the education budget
(9)_________to its 1995-6 level. The percentage spent on primary education
(10)__________ to 21.6% and that on secondary to 33.5%, both figures being
less than 1995-6 levels.
Choose the correct word to fit in the gap

1.

increases
increased
increasing

2.

was
rose to
reached

3.

increased
dropping
rising

4.

an increase
increased
increasing

5.

rise
rose
rising

6.

spent
spending
was spent

7.

an increase
increase

was increased

8.

increase
drop
dropped

9.

dropped
increased
returned

10.

rised

rose
increase

This lesson will hopefully have helped you with the basics of describing graph
trends and some of the different structures you can use.
Remember though this example has only used a few of the words possible
for describing change.
It's important to vary your language so look around the IELTS buddy site, for
example on the model graphs, to see what other language you can use.