Graphs 1

C.1.2 Skills

VISUAL DATA: Charts, graphs, and diagrams

How to begin a description of visual data

To catch your audience’s attention from the very beginning, you can use the following phrases
for introduction:

 Let me show you this bar chart/graph…

 Let’s turn to this diagram…
 I’d like you to look at this map…
 If you look at this graph, you will notice…
 Let’s have a look at this pie chart…
 If you look at this line chart, you will understand…
 To illustrate my point, let’s look at some charts…

Describing what is being measured

Start by addressing the: WHAT – WHERE – WHEN
E.g. The chart measures the percentage of workers that contributed to the family economy in
developing countries of Asia and Africa in year 2017.
What = the percentage of workers
Where = in developing countries of Asia and Africa
When = year 2017
Examples:

 The chart gives information about consumer expenditures on six products in four
countries namely Germany, Italy, Britain and France.
 The bar graph enumerates the money spent on different research projects while the
column graph demonstrates the fund sources over a decade, commencing from 1981.
 The bar graph and the table data depict the water consumption in different sectors in
five regions.
 The chart measures the number of workers that contributed to the family economy.
 The supplied / given / presented bar graph compares the number of male and female
graduates in three developing countries.
 The table data presents the overall literacy rate in these countries.

Naming the parts

To describe diagrams or any other type of graphs as clearly as possible, you should name
each visual element. For example:

 The vertical axis shows…

 The horizontal axis represents… AXIS (singular) /ˈæksɪs/
 This curve illustrates…
 The solid line shows… AXES (plural) /ˈæksiːz/
 The shaded area describes…
 This coloured segment is for…
 The red bar corresponds to…
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C.1.2 Skills

How to describe line graphs

This type of charts converts information into points on a grid that

is connected with a line to represent trends, changes, or the
relationship between objects, numbers, dates, etc. These lines
show movement over time affected by the increase or decrease in
the key factors.

To express the movement of the line, you should use

appropriate verbs, adjectives, and adverbs depending on the kind
of action you need to show. The following is a list of useful
vocabulary to describe what you see
see:

Verbs:: rise, increase, grow, go up to, climb, boom, peak, fall,

decline, decrease, drop, dip, go down, reduce, level up, remain
stable, no change, remain steady, stay co constant, stay, maintain the
same level, crash, collapse, plunge, plummet.

Adjectives:: sharp, rapid, huge, dramatic, substantial, considerable, significant, slight, small, minimal,
massive.

Adverbs:: dramatically, rapidly, hugely, massive, sharply, steeply, cconsiderably,

onsiderably, substantially,
significantly, slightly,
y, minimally, markedly, notably, moderately.

There is also a list of adverbs to describe the speed of a change: rapidly, quickly, swiftly,
suddenly, steadily, gradually, slowly.
 Graphs 3
C.1.2 Skills

How to describe pie charts

The pie chart is primarily used to illustrate how different parts make up a whole. The best way to
present your data in a pie chart is to compare the categories with each other. The following comparison
words can be used interchangeably:

 to compare
 compared to
 as opposed to
 versus
 more than
 the majority of
 only a small monitory
 greater than
 less than

Describing trends
As a general trend, At the first glance,
In general,
As can be seen, It seems clear,
Generally speaking,
As an overall trend, At the onset,
Overall,
As is presented, Itt is clear that,
It is obvious,
It can be clearly seen that, A glance at the graphs
As is observed,
reveals that...

Example:
1. In general,, the employment opportunities increased till 1970 and then declined
throughout the next decade..
2. As is observed, the figures for imprisonment in the five mentioned countries show no
overall pattern, rather shows the considerable fluctuati
fluctuations from country to country.
3. Generally speaking,, citizens in the USA had a far better life standard than that of remaining
countries.
4. It seems clear that the percentage of men engaged in managerial positions in 1987 was
higher than that of women in New York that same year.
5. As an overall trend,, the number of crimes reported increased fairly rapidly until the mid-
seventies, remained constant for five years and finally, dropped to 20 cases a week after 1982.
6. At a first glance, it is clear that more percentages of native university pupils violated
regulations and rules than the foreign students did during this period.
7. At the onset, it is clear that drinking in public and drink driving were the most common
reasons for US citizens to be arrested in 2014.
8. Overall, thee leisure hours enjoyed by males, regardless of their employment status, was
much higher than that of women.

Expressing time periods

 From 1990 to 2000, Commencing from 1980, Bet

Between
ween 1995 and 2005, After 2012.
 By 1995, In 1998, In February, Over the period, During the period, During 2011.
 In the first half of the year, For the first quarter, The last quarter of the year, During
the first decade.
 Graphs 4
C.1.2 Skills

 In the 80s, In the 1980s, During the next 6 months, In the mid-70s, Next 10 years,
Previous year, Next year, Between 1980 - 1990.
 Within a time span of ten years, within five years.
 Next month, Next quarter, Next year, Previous month, Previous year.
 Since, Then, From.

Percentages, portions, numbers

Percentages:
a 10% increase one-fourth
a 25 percent decrease three-quarters
went up by / increased by 15% half
dropped by 10 per cent 5 times higher
fall at 50% 3 timers lower
reached 75% declined to about 49%,
Triple / treble (become three times as much) stood exactly at 43%
doubled (become twice as much/many)

Fractions:
4% = A tiny fraction. 50% = Exactly a half.
24% = Almost a quarter. 51% = Just over a half.
25% Exactly a quarter. 73% = Nearly three quarters.
26% = Roughly one quarter. 77% = Approximately three quarters, more than
32% Nearly one-third, nearly a third. three quarters.
49% = Around a half, just under a half. 79% = Well over three quarters.

Proportions:
2% = A tiny portion, a very small proportion.
4% = An insignificant minority, an insignificant proportion.
16% = A small minority, a small portion.
70% = A large proportion.
72% = A significant majority, A significant proportion.89% = A very large proportion.
89% = A very large proportion.

Bibliography:

https://preply.com/en/blog/2018/08/17/charts-graphs-and-diagrams-in-the-presentation/)

https://www.ielts-mentor.com/48-ielts-vocabulary/vocabulary-for-academic-ielts-writing-task-1/528-vocabulary-for-
academic-ielts-writing-task-1-part-1