VOCABULARY AND STRUCTURES TO TALK ABOUT GRAPHS AND CHARTS
TYPES OF GRAPHS and CHARTS
DESCRIBING LANGUAGE
● UP: increase / rise / grow / went up / soar / double / multiply / climb / exceed /
● DOWN: decrease / drop / fall / decline / plummet / halve / depreciate / plunge
● UP & DOWN: fluctuate / undulated / dip /
● SAME: stable (stabilised) / levelled off / remained constant or steady / consistent
● CHANGES: gently / gradually / slightly / steadily / a little /
● CHANGES: suddenly / sharply / dramatically / steeply / sudden
● TOP: reached a peak / peaked / reached its highest level /
● BOTTOM: bottomed out / sank to a trough / the lowest level
USEFUL PHRASES
● a small fraction, a small number, a small minority
● a large portion, a significant majority
● nearly a fifth, almost 10%, in region of 40%, more than a half, over a
quarter, around two thirds, more or less three quarters, exactly one
in ten, approximately a third
a rise/increase/growth/peak/surge
a fall/decrease/decline/dip
a fluctuation/variation
Nouns
to rise/increase/surge/grow/peak/rocket/soar/leap
to fall/decrease/decline/dip/dive/plunge/plummet
to fluctuate/vary
Verbs
sharply/suddenly/rapidly/abruptly/dramatically/significantly/
considerably/markedly/spectacularly
gently/gradually/steadily/modestly/marginally
Adverbs
sharp/sudden/rapid/abrupt/dramatic/significant/considerable/marked/
substancial/spectacular
slight/gentle/gradual/steady/consistent/modest/marginal
Adjectives
Useful graph language: Description
● The graph from (source) presents data on (title)…
● The graph from (source) shows/ illustrates (title)…
● If we look at this graph on (title) from (source) you can see…
● The y axis (vertical) is… and the x axis (horizontal) is…
● (Graph) These lines represent… (Bar) These Columns are…
● (Pie) These segments are… (Table) These rows are…
Useful graph language: Analysis
● Overall summary: Overall, there is / has been… / Generally, there is…
● What you can see is… / From the graph we can see…
● I’d like to focus your attention on…
● If you look at this…, you’ll see / notice / understand
● A key significant area is … / Two key significant areas are…
● An important point is… / Two important points I’d like to illustrate are…
● What is interesting here is…
● An interesting observation is…
● An analysis of the graph illustrates…
● Looking at ….
Useful graph language: Evaluation
● This seems to suggest that…
● This is possibly because of…
● This is (clearly) due to…
● One reason for this could be…
● An evaluation of this data suggests / provides evidence for / highlights…
● To provide evidence to my previous point the graph highlights…
● Overall, this highlights the significance of…
● Therefore, this provides evidence that…
Phrases to describe the graph
● The graph from (source) shows/ illustrates (title)…
● The y-axis is… and the x-axis is…
● Overall, GDP has remained… between…
● I’d like to focus your attention on two key significant areas.
● (Analysis) The first one is ………. (explain data)
● (Evaluation) This is/was possibly because of ….
● (Analysis) The second one is ……. (explain data)
● (Evaluation) This is / was clearly due to …………
● Overall, this graph highlights the evidence that…
● A future prediction is that……
