This lesson is about the language forms we can use to describe changes, particularly when describing graphs, charts and tables in Writing Task 1.
You may have to describe a chart, graph, or table for Writing Task 1. Very often the data show that something has changed, perhaps changed over time. As your task here is describe the most significant feature of the graph, chart or table, you need to use a wide range of vocabulary in your description.
Two language forms you can use are adverbs of manner and noun phrases.
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs which tell us about manner are often formed by adding -ly to the adjective form
| careful → carefully | happy → happily |
They usually come after the verb.
Noun Phrases
A noun phrase has a noun or pronoun as the ‘head’ or main word, and other words which modify it - give more information about the noun.
Noun: people; money
- Determiner + noun: the village, a house, our friends; those houses.
- Quantifier + noun: some people; a lot of money.
- Determiner + adjective + noun: our closest friends; a new house.
- Quantifier + determiner + noun: all those children.
- Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun: both of my younger brothers.
For example, a useful word when describing change is trend. It means a change or development over time. So line graph that shows a value decreasing over time could be said to show a downward trend. [determiner + adjective + noun]