Task 1 map vocabulary

Writing task 1 is one of the sections of the IELTS academic test that requires students to write an essay of at least 150 words for the given graph, chart, table, map or process diagram. In the IELTS writing test, vocabulary is the important marking criteria. Before taking the task 1 map you need to be clear about how scores are marked. IELTS writing band descriptors are the factors that examiners look into while assessing your writing ability. There are mainly 4 factors that are involved in the writing band descriptors.

• Task achievement
• Coherence and cohesion
• Lexical resource (Vocabulary)
• Grammatical range and accuracy

Vocabulary is one of the key marking criteria that carries 25% of your overall marks in the IELTS writing task 1. Repeating the same words in the passage will result in getting a low band score. That’s why it’s important to know the vocabulary for different words. In this article, you’ll get the complete list of task 1 map vocabulary to get a band score of 9.

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Key terms of positions 

Below is the vocabulary for map task 1 which you can use to describe the positions in the map while writing an essay.

Vocabulary for cardinal directions (Compass points) 

• North
• South
• East
• West
• North east
• North west
• South east 
• South west

Adverbs and prepositions of Place 

• To the north/To the west/ To the east/To the south
• In
• At
• Beside
• On
• Under
• Below
• Above 
• Far
• Near
• Between
• Around
• Next to
• By
• Across from
• Over
• Along
• In front of
• In the middle of/In the centre of
• Beyond
• Inside/outside
• To the left of/To the right of

Vocabulary for Map description verbs 

• Build
• Construct
• Demolished
• Knocked-down
• Renovated
• Reconstruct
• Developed
• Extended
• Expanded
• Converted
• Modernized
• Located/situated
• Cleared
• Removed
• Planted
• Chopped-down

Vocabulary for Map area 

• Length
• Depth
• Deep
• Long
• Wide
• Height
• High
• Width

Map specific Vocabulary 

Check the list of IELTS writing task 1 map vocabulary words which you can use in the writing test.

Vocabulary for city/town 

• Community greens
• Township
• Satellite town
• Eco town
• Metropolis
• Green belt
• Greenfield land
• Inner-city
• Upmarket shops
• Greyfield land
• Grid plan
• Pavement/sidewalk
• Roundabout
• Roadside
• Transition zone

Landscape vocabulary 

• Astonishing landscapes
• Bay
• Archipelago
• Bog
• Canal
• Canyon
• Castle
• Cliff
• Hedge
• Moor
• Strait
• Stream
• Summit
• Tide
• Tributary
• Valley

Paraphrases for maps 

While paraphrasing you need to notice some of the words which will give different meanings. Here are some of the examples for how to rephrase and how not to.

• Town center - rephrase it as centre of the town not city center
• Road - don’t rephrase it as street
• Housing area - residential area
• Located - situated/lies
• Path - way
• Area - field
• Entrance - doorway

Grammar for Map 

You need to focus on learning these grammatical structures and tenses for the writing task 1 map.

• Past tense
• Present perfect passive
• Present passive
• Future passive
• Perfect passive
• Present perfect

IELTS map writing vocabulary 

Following vocabulary will help you to maintain the structure of the essay. Below given are the most important IELTS writing task 1 map vocabulary words that helps you to write without struggling and achieve band 9 score.

Introduction 

• Illustrates
• Describes
• Demonstrates
• Represent
• Reflects
• Shows
• According to
• Provides detail of
• Gives information about

System of Coordinates 

• Axis
• Trend
• Coordinate
• Vertical axis Y
• Horizontal axis X

Movement

• Go up
• Increase
• Peak
• Jump
• Rise
• Come down
• Decrease
• Decline
• Fall
• Fluctuate

Description 

• Over the time period
• Estimated
• Gradually
• Rapidly
• Further
• Account for
• Projected
• Substantially

Conclusion 

• Was reported
• On the other hand
• Overall
• It can be concluded that
• To summarize
• In total
• At the end 

Download IELTS writing task 1 map vocabulary pdf

Example sentences 

• The hospital is located in the southeast side of the road
• In the year, there was a decrease in rainfall
• The village had developed over the period of time
• There was rapid growth in the trees.
• Buildings were expanded in these years.
• There was a shop in the middle of the street.
• Roundabout was developed at the junction of the road.
• The depth of the pond was above 20 metres.

Know the complete words by checking the IELTS writing task 1 vocabulary and also understand the IELTS writing task 1 types.

Practice the IELTS writing task 1 map sample answers.