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IELTS Task 1 vocabulary: language for trends, comparisons and processes
Phrase banks for the three things Academic Task 1 asks you to describe, plus a small builder: type what is changing, pick a direction and size, and get sentence patterns you can adapt.
Build a trend sentence
Fill in what the chart shows. The tool gives sentence patterns in the past tense. You still decide whether they are true for your chart.
Your sentence patterns will appear here.
Phrase banks
For line graphs, bar charts and tables that show years or months. Use past tenses for past dates and will/is expected to for forecasts.
Going up
Verbs need no object: the number rose (not "the number rose it").
rose / increased / grew
The number of visitors rose from 2 million to 3.5 million.
climbed / went up
Average rents climbed over the decade.
reached a peak of
Sales reached a peak of 90 units in July.
recovered / rebounded
Output rebounded after the fall in 2012.
Going down
Use "fell" and "dropped" for numbers; "decline" sounds more formal.
fell / decreased / declined
Unemployment fell from 9% to 6%.
dropped / went down
Prices dropped slightly in the last year.
reached a low of / bottomed out at
Attendance bottomed out at 400 in March.
Staying the same or changing direction
Add the level with "at".
remained stable / stayed constant at
The figure remained stable at 15%.
levelled off at / plateaued at
Production levelled off at 500 tonnes.
fluctuated between ... and ...
The rate fluctuated between 4% and 7%.
How big or how fast
Adverbs describe the verb (rose sharply); adjectives describe the noun (a sharp rise).
dramatically / sharply / rapidly (a dramatic / sharp / rapid rise)
Sales rose sharply in 2018.
significantly / considerably (a significant / considerable fall)
There was a considerable fall in imports.
steadily / gradually (a steady / gradual increase)
Numbers grew steadily over the period.
slightly / marginally (a slight / marginal change)
Costs rose slightly.
Approximating numbers
Use these instead of repeating exact figures.
approximately / around / roughly
Around 40% of the budget went on housing.
just over / just under / nearly
Just under half of the students were women.
a fraction (a quarter, a third, three-fifths)
A third of households owned two cars.
Overview frames
- Overall, [the main trend] while [the second trend].
- Overall, [the highest / lowest item] was [the most / least ...] , whereas [another item] ...
- Overall, the process has [number] stages, starting with [start] and ending with [end].
Using Task 1 language well
- Describe the key features, not every number. Group related lines or bars and give figures only where they help.
- Write an overview. Two or three sentences that state the main trends or the biggest contrasts, without detailed figures.
- Do not give reasons or opinions. Task 1 asks you to report what the data shows, not to explain why.
- Match words to the data. “Dramatically” suits a very large, fast change; “slightly” a small one. A wrong adverb is worse than none.
Questions about Task 1 language
Should I use the exact same verbs every time?
No. Vary the verb and the structure: “sales rose sharply” and “there was a sharp rise in sales” say the same thing in two ways. Repeating one pattern for every line makes a report feel mechanical.
Which tense should I use?
Use the past tense for dates in the past, the present for data that is true now or has no date, and will or is expected to for forecasts. For a process diagram, use the present simple, mostly passive.
Does the builder check that my sentence is true?
No. It only fills a grammatical pattern with the words you type. You are responsible for checking the figures against the chart.
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Write the report, then see how it reads
Language is only part of Task 1. The writing checker gives an estimated band for each of the four criteria, including whether you have covered the key features. Your first check needs no account.
All phrases, examples and sentence patterns were written for this tool and are not copied from an exam paper or a published phrase list. English Test Coach is independent of IELTS. For the task itself, see the Academic Task 1 guides and the writing timer.