Describing Graphics

DESCRIBING GRAPHS

Useful introductory expressions:
The graph shows / indicates / depicts / illustrates
From the graph it is clear
It can be seen from the graph
As can be seen from the graph,
As is shown / illustrated by the graph,
Example: The graph shows the percentage of children using supplements in a place over a year.

Useful time expressions:
over the next... / for the following... (for the following two months... over the next six months...)
from ... to / between ... and (from June to August... between June and August...)
during (during the first three months...)

Warning!
Per cent is the word form of the symbol %. We can write 10% or 10 per cent. Percentageis the noun form: The percentage of children using supplements. NOT The percent of children...

Note!
You can use a combination of adjective + noun, or verb + adverb, to avoid repeating the same phrase.
Example: There was a sharp decrease in the numbers. The numbers decreased sharply.

Language for graphs

This exercise focuses on some basic language, which you need to describe graphs. Look at the graph below. Following the graph, there are 25 statements about the data.

	remain (-ed, -ed) unchanged, steady, stable, constant, plateau, fixed/static From January to March the percentage of children using supplements remained fairly static at approximately 10%. The percentage of children taking dietary supplements was relatively stable during the first two months of the year. During the first two months, supplement use remained fairly unchanged.
	fall (fell, fallen), decrease (-ed, -ed), drop (dropped, dropped), plunge (-ed, -ed), decline (-ed, -ed) slight (slightly), steady (steadily), gradual (gradually), gentle (gently), slow (slowly) downward trend It then fell gradually in March. There was a slight decrease in the use of dietary supplements in March. The graph shows a slight decrease in March. Supplement use experienced a steady decrease in March. Supplement use decreased slightly in March.
	fluctuate (-ed, -ed) wildly It went up and down widely over the next two months. It fluctuated for the following two months.
	rise (rose, risen), grow (grew, grown), climb (-ed, -ed), shoot up (shot up, shot up) dramatic (dramatically), sharp (sharply), significant (significantly), rapid (rapidly) upward trend There was a significant increase in the percentage of children taking dietary supplements between June and August. The period between June and August saw a dramatic growth in the use of dietary supplements. Between June and August, the percentage of children taking dietary supplements shot up dramatically. The greatest rise was from June to August when it rose by 22% for two consecutive months from June to August.
	peak (-ed, -ed), reach (-ed, -ed) The percentage of children taking dietary supplements was at its highest level in April. Supplement use peaked at close to 25% in April. It reached a peak of 25% in April.
	fall (fell, fallen), decrease (-ed, -ed), drop (-ed, -ed) dramatic (dramatically), sharp (sharply), significant (significantly), rapid (rapidly) Between August and October, this figure dropped dramatically to 11%. From August to October, there was a drop of 14% in the percentage of children taking dietary supplements. Between August and October, There was a considerable fall in the percentage of children using supplements. This was followed by a sharp drop of 14% over the next two months. Supplement use experienced a dramatic fall between August and October.
	fall (fell, fallen), decrease (-ed, -ed), drop (dropped, dropped), plunge (-ed, -ed), decline (-ed, -ed), reach (-ed, -ed) its lowest point slight (slightly), steady (steadily), gradual (gradually), gentle (gently), slow (slowly) downward trend Between October and December, the decrease in the use of dietary supplements was at a much slower pace than in the previous two months. Supplement use continued to fall steadily over the next two months until it reached its lowest point in December. It fell to a low of only 5% in December.

In this unit we look at the language used to describe charts and graphs. Graphs or charts help people understand data quickly. You can use them to make a comparison or show a trend.

At the end of this unit you should know some useful vocabulary for describing charts and graphs.

1. Types of chart.

• Pie chart

A pie chart is used to show percentages

 

• Bar chart

A bar chart is used to compare different sets of information

 

• Line graph

A lline graph is most useful for showing trends.
 
 
2. What is a trend?

A trend is a general tendency or direction.

an upward/downward trend

 

3. Vocabulary for describing graphs

 

Helpful words and phrases for describing graphs

• UP – Verbs rise, increase, grow, go up, improve, jump, surge, shoot up , soar, rocket
• UP – Nouns a rise, an increase, growth, an upward/rising/increasing trend, an improvement, a jump, a surge
• DOWN – Verbs fall, decrease, drop, decline, go down, slump, plummet
• DOWN – Nouns a fall, a decrease, a decline, a downward/falling/decreasing trend, a slump
• NO CHANGE – Verbs remain stable/constant, stay at the same level, stabilize
• FREQUENT CHANGE – Verb fluctuate
• FREQUENT CHANGE – Noun – fluctuation
• AT THE TOP – Verbs reach a peak, peak., reach its/their highest point
• AT THE BOTTOM – Verbs reach/hit a low (point), hit/reach its/their lowest point

CHANGE

Adjectives:

• dramatic, considerable, sharp, significant, moderate, slight, sudden, rapid, steady, gradual, slow

Adverbs:

• dramatically, considerably, sharply, significantly, moderately, slightly, suddenly, rapidly, steadily, gradually, slowly

Prepositions:

• a rise from £725 to £825
• to increase by 2.1 %
• an increase of 2.1 % in the crime rate

 
4. The following site helps you understand and revise some important vocabulary.

 

http://adw.hct.ac.ae/site_ilc/sites_ielts/graphsite/index.htm

5. The following exercises help you practise the vocabulary for describing graphs.

http://www.bath.ac.uk/elc/eap/graphs/vocabulary.htm

http://www.englishforacademicstudy.com/Task.aspx?taskId=1&unitId=7&partId=1&taskitemId=2

6. Fill in all the gaps, then click "Saada" to check your answers.

The total property crime rate and B&E rate between 2000 and 2007

Unit of count: offences per 100 000 population

Täida lüngad

Fill in all the gaps.

1. Introduction
This report examines the changes in the total property crime rate and the break and enter rate between 2000 and 2007.
2. Findings.
In 2000 the total property crime rate was 2500 offences per 100 000 population. Then the rate 1) rose (sharply/sharp) and reached 3800 in 2001. After a 2) (moderate/moderately )fall in 2002, the rate started to 3) (increase/decrease) again and reached a 4) (peak/top) in 2003. However, after 5) (stabilizing/fluctuating ) for some months, the total property crime rate dropped 6) (considerably/considerable) throughout 2004 and the beginning of 2005.
The rate stayed at about 2400 offences from mid-2005 7) (to/until) mid-2006 before 8) (decreasing/decrease) again.

In 2000 the break and enter rate was about 760 offences per 100 000 population. 9) From(From/since) 2000 to 2003, there was a steady 10) (upward/downward)trend in the B rate. The rate 11) (reached/arrived) its highest point in 2003 and then 12) (showed/fell) a significant downward trend until mid-2005. After being stable for a few months, the rate continued to fall 13 (slightly/slight), dropping to around 780 in 2007.

3 .Conclusion
The total property crime rate fluctuated from 2000 to 2003, whereas the break and enter rate showed a general upward trend. Both rates peaked in 2003, fell significantly until mid-2005, stabilized for some months and 14) (fell/grew) slightly during 2006 and 2007 .

  

Describing charts in English

There are various types of charts. In the following example we show the numbers of pets in Year 7 of a school.

Types of charts

Charts	English
	table
	pie chart
	bar chart
	line graph

List with phrases to describe charts

• The pie chart is about ...
• The bar chart deals with ...
• The line graph (clearly) shows ...
• The slices of the pie chart compare the ...
• The chart is divided into ... parts.
• It highlights ...
• ... has the largest (number of) ...
• ... has the second largest (number of) ...
• ... is as big as ...
• ... is twice as big as ...
• ... is bigger than ...
• more than ... per cent ...
• only one third ...
• less than half ...
• The number ... increases/goes up/grows by ...
• The number ... decreases/goes down/sinks by ...
• The number ... does not change/remains stable
• I was really surprised/shocked by the ...
• So we can say ...

Use of Tenses

Mind the correct use of tenses when describung a chart. If the charts deals with facts in the present (as in our example), use the Simple Present, if the facts are the past, then use the Simple Past. If there is a connection between the past and the present, use the Present Perfect.

How to describe a chart

With the following example we would like to show you how charts are described. Mind the three parts and do not repeat the global message in the conclusion.

A Pets in Year 7 at a school

We have chosen the pie chart because we think it shows the number of pets in Year 7 best.

1 Introduction

Here you say what the diagram is about. Mind the title of it and do not forget to include the source.
The pie chart is about the pets in Year 7. The chart is divided into 5 parts. It is taken from ...

2 Message of the diagram

The largest number of pets are in form 7GI. There are 16 pets.
The second largest number of pets are in form 7HK. There are 8 pets.
So there are more than twice as many pets in form 7GI.
The chart shows that there are only 2 pets in form 7CS and 3 in form 7VR.

3 Conclusion

So we can say that the most pets of Year 7 are in form 7GI and the least in form 7CS. There are more than 50 per cent of all the pets in one form - form 7GI.

B Population growth in Canada

This graph shows the growth of the population in Canada from 1978 to 2009. It is taken from the website about Statistics in Canada.
There are three graphs in the chart. The green graph shows the total growth of the population, the black one deals with the migrated people in Canada and the blue graph shows the natural increase of the population. In 1988/89 there was an enourmous growth. In the following years the total growth went down to about 250,000 in 1998/99. From that time on the Canadian population has been gradually growing again although the natural increase slows down. So we can say that the growth of the population in Canada is based on migration.