IMPORTANT WORDS FOR IELTS ACADEMIC Writing Task 1
Significantly
Remarkably
Dramatically
Sharply
Gradually
Steadily
Marginally (=slightly)
Negligibly (=very slightly)
Decrease Considerably
Decline Slightly
Fall Gradually
Drop Steadily
Rise Sharply
Increase Dramatically
a dramatic increase
a sharp fall – There was a sharp rise in the percentage of …
a gradual decline
How to describe trends?
Prices rose considerably
The percentage decreased sharply
There was a negligible rise in the sales …
There will be a considerable fall in the number of people
Useful phrases
hit the highest point
hit the lowest point
hit a trough (= a low point/antonym of a peak)
show some fluctuation
remained stable
reached a plateau
the figure levelled off in the last two years
flattened out
despite the initial rise, the figures …
regarding the percentage of …, it fell to …
despite falling to just under 40%, the figure then rose to…
as opposed to …
… respectively
the percentage of …
the proportion of …
the figures for…were fairly similar at …%
the number of…
the amount of…
Prepositions
By 1978,
Over a twelve-year period
In the last year
Over the next three years,
In the following year,
Over the period in question
At the beginning/end of the period
Throughout the period in question
In the first half of the decade …
An Increase of 30%.
Decreased by 15%.
Rose sharply over a period of 10 years.
Figures
2% = a very small proportion of
2-10% = a mere 3 percent OR a mere 5 percent of
16% = a small minority
20% = a fifth
24% = almost a quarter
25% = a quarter
26% = roughly one quarter
32% = nearly one-third
35% = more than a third
49% = just under a half
50% = a half
51% = just over a half
55% = more than half
70% = a large proportion of
72% = a significant majority of
73% = nearly three quarters
76% = just over three-quarters
For figures
Approximately
Nearly
Roughly
Almost
Just over
Just under
Just around
Just about
Just below
A little more than
A little less than
Comparisons
… by far the most popular item / product / language …
… the least popular product was …
… much more popular
more languages …
fewer students …
the highest percentage of/the lowest proportion of
… as popular as …
… not as popular as …
… not quite/nearly as expensive as …
… did not sell as many computers as …
… is three times higher than …
… twice as many _____ as …
