IELTS Writing Task 1 Line Graph Vocabulary

IELTS writing task 1 line graph vocabulary comprises different words from nouns, verbs, adverbs & adjectives to describe an upward/downward trend, highlight changes over a period of time, etc. Generally, IELTS Academic writing task 1 has a visual representation like a chart, diagram, table, or map. Students must read the visual and describe or summarise the information in writing. To assess, there is this IELTS score band descriptor (given below).

Band descriptors

• Task achievement - It shows how well you complete a task with essential features.
• Coherence and cohesion - It shows how your words, thoughts and ideas are expressed clearly.
• Lexical resource - It shows how you use new vocabulary in the right context.
• Grammatical range and accuracy - It shows how good your grammar is and how well structured.

As IELTS writing task 1 line graph vocabulary (lexical resource) is an important factor in the IELTS band descriptor, covering 25% of overall scores, you must give equal attention to improving your vocabulary skills. Since there are vocabulary words exclusively for line graph essays, this blog will provide them all to help you achieve a 9-band score on a writing test.

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IELTS Writing Task 1 Vocabulary for Line Graph

The IELTS writing task 1 vocabulary for line graph has four types:

• Verbs and nouns
• Time phrases
• Adjectives and adverbs
• Comparison words

IELTS Line Graph Verbs and Nouns

To describe a line graph essay, refer to the below list of verbs and nouns.

Upward trend

• Climb / a climb
• Grow / a growth
• Go up
• Increase / an increase
• Uphill / an uphill
• Rise / a rise

Downward trend

• Fall / a fall
• Decline / a decline
• Drop / a drop
• Downhill / a downhill
• Decrease / a decrease

Other vocabulary words

• Dip / a dip
• Remain steady
• Remain unchanged
• Remain fixed
• Remain constant
• Level off
• Plateau
• Bottom out
• Hit a high of
• Hit a low of
• Peak at
• Remain stable
• Fluctuate / a fluctuation

When you commit mistakes in using vocabulary, it will affect your band score. It includes spelling.

Band 6 = some vocabulary errors.
Band 7 = few vocabulary errors.
Band 8 = one or two vocabulary errors.
Band 9 = no vocabulary errors.

IELTS Line Graph Adjectives and Adverbs

The adjectives and adverbs relevant to line graph essays are given below.

Adverbs: steadily, gradually, considerably, steeply, slightly, significantly, rapidly, dramatically, speedily, quickly, exponentially, marginally

Adjectives: steady, gradual, considerable, steepy, slight, significant, rapid, speed, quick, dramatic, exponential, marginal

Examples:

1. The fuel prices have increased rapidly from 80 to 100 in the last one year.
2. There was a rapid increase in fuel prices from 80 to 100 in the last one year.

IELTS Line Graph Time Phrases

IELTS line graph questions require you to write changes over some time. To use the right words, we brought you to the time expressions/phrases below.

Time Phrases/Time Expressions

• Five days later
• In the following five days
• Over the next five days
• The first year
• The final year
• At the end of the period
• At the beginning of the period
• From ….. to …… /between ……… and ………
• The next five days show

Examples:

1. Dates
   In January
   In 2022
   By the end of 1999
   Over a five year period
2. Numbers
   A decrease of 12%
   Increased by 50%
   Dipped from 34% to just over 13%

IELTS Line Graph Comparison Words

Since IELTS line graph questions have information to compare, you need to know the widely-used comparison words. They are as follows:

Comparison Words

To compare
As compared to
Only small majority
Greater than
Less than
The majority of 
In comparison with
As opposed to
Likewise
Same as

S No	Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
1	good	better than	the best
2	bad	worse than	the worst
3	much	more than	the most
4	little	less than	the least

Examples:

1. Overall, students prefer physical classes over online classes.
2. Cars were sold more than bikes.
3. The least popular mode of transportation was trains.

Vocabulary for the Introduction Part

When you start an essay in an IELTS writing line graph, you can use any of the following words for introduction.

S No	Starting	Presentation Type	Verb	Description
1	The / the	Diagram	Shows	The changes
2	Given	Table / Figure	Represents	The comparison of ...
3	Supplied	Illustration	Depicts	Information on ...
4	Presented	Graph / Chart	Describes	Data on ...
5	The shown	Flow chart	Outlines	The amount of ...
6	The provided	Picture	delineates	The proportion of ...
7		Presentation	Provides	Comparative data ...
8		Pie chart	Presents	The trend of ...
9		Bar graph	Gifts	The percentage of ...
10		Column graph	Illustrates	The ratio of ...
11		Line graph	Enumerates	How the ...
12			Denotes
13			Expresses
14			Sketch out
15			Summarises
16			Explains
17			Indicates

Vocabulary for General Trend Part

To showcase the general trends in line graph essays, you can use the common words given below.

Words for General Trends

1. As a general rule
2. As a general trend
3. At the first glance
4. It is important to
5. It is clear that
6. As it is revealed
7. Generally speaking
8. It is obvious that
9. At the onset
10. Overall
11. As it is observed
12. In common
13. In general
14. It is clearly seen than
15. As can be seen from the
16. A glance at the graph reveals that

Vocabulary to start the report body

Students must give an introduction followed by a paragraph/report body. To look impressive, you must use these vocabulary words.

1. As (it is) shown in the illustration 
2. Categorically speaking
3. The diagram suggests that
4. The data reveals that
5. The graph shows that 
6. It can be clearly seen that
7. It is clearly observed that
8. We can see that
9. As it is presented in the diagram(s)/graph(s)/pie chart(s)/table(s)
10. The table data clearly shows that
11. It is apparent that
12. It is crystal clear that
13. It could be painfully visible that
14. It could be noticed that
15. It is obvious that
16. It is explicitly observed that
17. As the diagram suggests
18. According to the graphic
19. Getting back to the details
20. As can be seen from the
21. It is interesting to note that
22. It is conspicuous that
23. Now, turning to the details
24. It is worth noting that
25. We can see that
26. It is explained that
27. It is explicitly given that

Vocabulary to show the trend changes

As line graph essays have trends to talk about, you need to highlight the trends in a simplest manner. To do that, use the following words.

S No	Trends	Verb Form	Noun Form
1	increase	Rise / increase / up lift / go up / rocket(ed) / climb / upsurge / soar / shot up / improve / leap / jump / skyrocket / surge / soar / move upward	A rise / an upward trend / a leap / a growth / a jump / an improvement / a climb / an increase.
2	Decrease	Reduce / collapse / deteriorate / dip / dive / go down / take a nosedive / slum / slide / go into free-fall / fall / decrease / decline / plummet / plunge / drop	A downward tendency / a decline / a drop / a slide / a collapse / a downfall / a fall / a decrease / a reduction
3	Gradual increase	____________	An upward tendency / a ceiling trend / an upward trend
4	Gradual decrease	____________	A downward tendency / a descending trend / a downward trend
5	Steadiness	Remain constant / remain steady / plateau / remain the same / unchanged / level out / remain stable / remain static	A steadiness / a plateau / a static / a stability
6	Flat / Standability	level(ed) off / unchanged / remain(ed) stable / remain(ed) constant / plateaued / reach(ed) / stay(ed) uniform / immutable / stabilise / remain(ed) the same.	A flat / a plateau / no change

Vocabulary words/phrases of approximation

In order to mention information or facts in approximate terms, you can use any of the following vocabulary words or phrases.

1. Just over
2. Just above
3. Just below
4. Just around
5. A little more than
6. A little less than
7. Just under
8. Just about
9. More or less
10. Around
11. Roughly
12. Approximately
13. Nearly
14. Almost
15. About

Most Important Vocabulary for Line Graph Essay

By now, you would know the importance of IELTS writing task 1 line graph vocabulary and how to use it. Moreover, there is certain vocabulary available with regards to dates, numbers, percentage, etc. It is given below for your reference.

Dates, Months and Years (Calendar) related vocabulary and grammar: 

• From 2000 to 2012, Commencing from 2002, Between 1945 and 1985, After 2020.
• By 1786, In 1837, In June, Over the period, During 1997, During the period.
• In the first half of the year, For the first quarter, The last quarter of the year, During the first decade.
• In the early 90s, In the 1760s, During the next 11 months, In the mid-60s, Next 5 years, Previous year, Next year, Between 1980 - 1990.
• Within a time span of six years, within three years.
• Next month, Next quarter, Next year, Previous month, Previous year.
• Since, Then, From.

Percentage, Portion & Numbers:

Percentages:

15% increase, 15 percent decrease, increased by 25%, dropped by 20 per cent, fall at 45%, reached to 65%, tripled, doubled, one-fourth, three-quarters, half, double folded, treble, 10 times higher, 7 timers lower, declined to about 45%, stood exactly at 67%.
 
Fractions:
4% = A tiny fraction.
24.5% = Almost a quarter.
25% = Exactly a quarter.
26.7% = Roughly one quarter.
30% = Nearly one-third, nearly a third.
49% = Around a half, just under a half.
50% = Exactly a half, half.
52.5% = Just over a half.
73% = Nearly three quarters.
77% = Approximately three quarters, more than three-quarter.
79% = Well over three quarters.
100% = a hundred percent.
 
Proportions: 
1.7% = A tiny portion, a very small proportion.
4% = An insignificant proportion.
15% = A small minority, a small portion, a limited portion.
40% = considerably less portion.
71% = A large proportion.
75% = A significant majority, A significant proportion.
89% = A very large proportion. 

Download IELTS writing task 1 line graph vocabulary pdf

Writing Task 1 Line Graph Sample Answer

The IELTS Writing Task 1 line graph are given below.

Sample Question:
The Line Graph shows the Past and Projected Finances for a Local Authority in New Zealand.

The line graph illustrates the past and projected finances for a local authority in New Zealand based on the financial year ending 30 June 2022 over 10 years from 2012 to 2022.  

Out of four categories, grants and subsidies remain stable throughout the decade except for a slight increase between 2015 and 2017. On the other hand, the borrowing category fluctuates during the year 2014 to 2021. However, it became stable in the last year. 

When it comes to the last two categories, namely, user charges and rates revenue, they have had steady growth right from 2013 and ended up at $2,300 million and $2,000 million respectively.

It is pertinent to note that the user charges have increased parallel to the rates revenue. Moreover, the money gap between them is small. In the initial year of 2012, the ‘user changes’ and ‘rates revenue’ categories were staying still. But after 2013, the revenue shot up with a more or less similar trend of $1000 million. Over the next five years, the funds for local regimes were beyond barriers, which accounted for $1500 million and increased exponentially to more than $2000 million in the ending year of June 30.

Also Read: IELTS Writing Band Descriptors

Comments on Writing Task 1 Line Graph Sample Answer

In the practice question ‘the line graph shows the past and projected’, there are four categories compared during a time period. In the introduction paragraph, we used the term ‘illustrates’ to describe the main idea of the question. 

Introduction Paragraph:
“The line graph illustrates the past and projected finances for a local authority ……..”

In the second paragraph, we used the term ‘remain stable’ to highlight that grants and subsidies category had no improvement. Whereas, the term ‘slight increase’ is used to show that it showed a growth during the given time period.

Second Paragraph:
“Out of four categories, grants and subsidies remain stable throughout the decade except for a slight increase between 2015 and 2017. …….”

In the third and fourth paragraphs, we used a comparison word - ‘parallel to’ to compare two categories. Similarly, we used a time expression - ‘over the next five years’ to describe a specific period. Lastly, we used the adverb - ‘increased exponentially’ to mention the fact that funds have increased so much in the end. 

Third and Fourth Paragraphs:
“It is pertinent to note that the user charges have increased parallel to the rates revenue. Moreover, the money gap between them is small. In the initial year of 2012, the ‘user changes’ and ‘rates revenue’ categories were staying still. But after 2013, the revenue shot up with a more or less similar trend of $1000 million. Over the next five years, the funds for local regimes were beyond barriers, which accounted for $1500 million and increased exponentially to more than $2000 million in the ending year of June 30.”

Structure of the IELTS Line Graph Essay:

In the IELTS Writing task 1, each essay type follows a specific structure. For the line graph essay, we will show the essay structure below.

Paragraph 1 (Introduction)

Sentence 1: paraphrase question

Paragraph 2 (Overview)

Sentence 1: Overview of the first main feature
Sentence 2: Overview of the second main feature
Sentence 3: Give a general comparison, if appropriate

Paragraph 3 (Details of main feature 1)

Sentence 1: supporting evidence
Sentence 2: giving an example/explanation
Sentence 3: comparison details, if appropriate

Paragraph 4 (Details of main feature 2)

Sentence 1: supporting evidence
Sentence 2: giving an example/explanation
Sentence 3: comparison details, if appropriate

Tips to write IELTS Writing Task 1 Line Graph Vocabulary

• Do not write more than 4 paragraphs in an IELTS line graph essay.
• Do not explain all features in a single paragraph.
• Conclusion is not mandatory. If your essay is less than the minimum of 150 words or if you think it will add value to your essay, write it.
• If there is no alternative word(s) or phrase(s) to reiterate a sentence or an idea, then use the same words/phrases.
• Do not use the same sentence structure to avoid repetition.
• Allow 5 minutes for proofreading your essay. It will help in avoiding simple grammatical errors.

Also Read: IELTS Writing Task 1 Tips