Writing styles ∞ Descriptive ∞ Opinion-based ∞ Creative ∞ Email communication

Line graphs are often used to describe change over a period of time. For example, the number of products sold each year between 1990 and 2002 (“Sales of Product X”):

line-graph---overview

Comprehension questions Line Graph 1 Line Graph 2 Model report

The line represents a set of data (numbers or percentages) and often, graphs have several lines:

line-graph---overview-two

If the line in the graph is going “up” think (and write) increase:

Sales were increasing between YYYY and YYYY.
There was an increase in sales from MM to MM.

If the line in the graph is going “down” think (and write) decrease:

Sales were decreasing during YYYY.
There was a decrease in sales during the period MM to MM.

Grammar

For each change/movement there are a number of verbs and nouns to express the movement:

Use a verb of change, for example: Unemployment levels fell
Or a related noun, for example: There was a fall in unemployment levels

A good description will also provide additional details:

There has been a slight increase in the value of the dollar (degree of change)
Unemployment fell rapidly last year (speed of change)

  Remember:
  Nouns are modified with adjectives (dramatic rise)
  Verbs are modified with an adverb (rose dramatically).

Adjective + Noun

There was a dramatic rise in iPad sales.
There was a sharp increase in the number of chocolate bars eaten.
There was a slow decrease in the number of visitors to Al Ain Zoo.

Verb + Adverb

The number of iPads sold rose dramatically.
The number of chocolate bars eaten increased sharply.
The number of visitors to Al Ain Zoo decreased slowly.

Vocabulary

Line graphs are often used to illustrate change over time. The time-frame or period of time can be e.g. hours; days; months; years or decades. For instance, a line graph might be used to show how the population of a country has changed during a 25 year time period.

Normally, when you describe the overall trend you would write about the difference from the beginning (start) of the graph to the end of the graph.

For example:

Overall, we can see that there was an increase in sales, between the years 1999 and 2009.
Overall, between January and April, the graph shows there was a decrease in the number of cars sold.

Word	Syllables	Translation &c.
Increase	in·crease	زيادة [verb] Noun: in·crease To become or make greater in size, amount, or degree. — There has been an increase in obesity since 2003.
Upward	up·ward	إلى فوق [verb] Noun: rise To become or make greater in size, amount, or degree. — There has been a rise in obesity since 2003. Verb: rise To move from a lower position to a higher one; to go up. — Local people are worried by the rise in crime during the summer holidays.
Decrease	de·crease	انخفاض [verb] Noun: decrease To become or make greater in size, amount, or degree. — There has been a rise in obesity since 2003. Verb: rise To move from a lower position to a higher one; to go up. — Local people are worried by the rise in crime during the summer holidays.
Downward	down·ward	الى أسفل [verb] Noun: downward To become or make greater in size, amount, or degree. — There has been a rise in obesity since 2003. Verb: rise To move from a lower position to a higher one; to go up. — Local people are worried by the rise in crime during the summer holidays.
Peak	peak	قمة [verb] Adjective: peak To become or make greater in size, amount, or degree. — There has been a rise in obesity since 2003. Verb: rise To move from a lower position to a higher one; to go up. — Local people are worried by the rise in crime during the summer holidays.
Fluctuate	fluc·tu·ate	تذبذب [verb] Noun: fluctuation Something that rises and falls irregularly in number or amount. — Trade with other countries tends to fluctuate from year to year.

Degree of change

When describing a line graph, it is important to identify big changes and also small changes:

Adjectives	Adverbs
Dramatic	Dramatically	(big) There was
Sharp	Sharply	(big) There was a sharp rise in sales. —In 1996, sales rose sharply.
Steep	Steeply	(big) There was
Substantial	Substantially	(big) There was
Significant	Significantly	(big) There was
Noticeable	Noticeably	(big) There was
Marginal	Marginally	(small) There was
Minimal	Minimally	(small) There was

Other useful vocabulary includes: highest point/lowest point; stayed the same/no change.

Speed of change

Another important thing to do when describing a line graph is to say if the speed of change is fast or slow:

Adjectives	Adverbs
Rapid	Rapidly	(fast) There was a rapid increase in sales before the Eid holidays. – Sales decreased rapidly between September and November.
Quick	Quickly	(fast) There was a quick rise in sales. – Sales rose quickly
Sudden	Suddenly	(fast) There was a sudden fall in sales – Sales fell suddenly
Steady	Steadily	(slow) There was a steady decrease in sales – Sales decreased steadily during the winter months.
Gradual	Gradually	(slow) There was a gradual decrease in sales in 1999. – Sales decreased gradually during the summer period.

Vocabulary in use

children-and-vitamins-linegraph

	remain (-ed) unchanged, steady, stable, constant, fixed, static “stayed the same,” “did not change” From January to March the percentage of children using supplements remained static. The percentage of children taking vitamins was relatively stable during January and February. During the first two months, vitamin use remained fairly constant at approximately 10%.

	fall (fell, fallen), decrease (-ed), drop (-ed), plunge (-ed), decline (-ed) slight (-ly), steady (-ly), gradual (-ly), gentle (gently), slow (-ly), “a 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), fluctuation The percentage fluctuated for the following two months. There was a fluctuation in the numbers between April and June.

	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 vitamins 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 vitamins rose sharply. The greatest rise was from June to August when it rose by 22%.

	peak (-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), drop (-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.

	Between October and December, the decrease in the use of dietary supplements was much slower 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.

Practice 01: Describing data shown in line graphs

Describing data shown in line graphs

Graph A		In 1970, the number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . five. After that, the number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 in 1990. Finally, it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 in 2000.

Graph B		In 1970, the number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20. Then, from 1970 to 1980, it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40. In 1990, the number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30. After that, in 2000, the number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . back to 40.

Graph C		In 1970, the number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60. From 1970 to 2000, there was a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ten.

Graph D		The number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 in 1970. Then, there was an . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 in 1990. From 1990 to 2000, the number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 to 40.

Graph E		The number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 in 1970. From 1970 to 1980, it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 in 1990. In 2000, the number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.

Graph F		In 1970, the number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40. The number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 between 1980 and 1990. Finally, the number in 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.

Graph G		The number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 in 1970. Then, there was a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in the number of cars to 40 in 1980. This figure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 for the next 20 years.

Graph H		The number of cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ten in 1970. Then, from 1980, it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . for the next 10 years at 30. It then . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 in 2000.