This document provides vocabulary and structures for describing trends and changes. It lists verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs for describing the direction, degree, and speed of changes. Examples are given for describing increases, decreases, remaining stable, and the amount and rate of changes. Useful structures include noun phrases with adjectives and prepositional phrases to specify changes in or of amounts from, to, in, at, by.

1. Uy Nguyen
DESCRIBING TRENDS
DESCRIBING THE DIRECTION OF A CHANGE
Verbs Nouns
Rise a rise
Increase an increase
Go up to
Grow growth
Climb a climb
Boom a boom
Peak (reach) a peak (at)
Fall a fall
Decline a decline
Decrease a decrease
Dip a dip
Drop a drop
Go down
Reduce a reduction
A slump
Level out/off a leveling out/off
No change no change
Remain stable

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Remain steady
Stay
Stay constant
Maintain the same level
Stabilize
DESCRIBING THE DEGREE OF A
CHANGE
Adjectives
Adverbs
Dramatic dramatically
Sharp sharply
Huge hugely
Enormous enormously
Steep steeply
Substantial substantially
Considerable considerably
Significant significantly
Marked markedly

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Moderate moderately
Slight slightly
Small
Minimal minimally
DESCRIBING THE SPEED OF A CHANGE
Adjectives Adverbs
Rapid rapidly
Quick quickly
Swift swiftly
Sudden suddenly
Steady steadily
Gradual gradually
Slow Slowly
Sharp Sharply

4. Uy Nguyen
USEFUL
STRUCTURES:
VERBS
SUBJECT VERBS (PAST TENSE) ADVERBS
The price
The population
The rate
decreased, fell, declined, went down,
dropped
How quickly?
gradually/slowly
quickly/rapidly
How much?
slightly
somewhat
significantly/substantially
dramatically
increased, rose, grew, went up
remained, stayed steady/constant/stable
NOUNS
There was A/AN Adjective Noun In noun
There was a gradual/slow/rapid
slight/significant
decrease/fall/declin
e
in prices
in the population

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substantial/dramatic drop/increase/rise in the rate
PREPOSITIONS
 WITH NOUNS
• increase IN nouns
• There has been an increase in population.
• Increase OF numbers IN nouns
• There has been an increase of 10% in the population.
 WITH VERBS
• The petrol price decreased BY 10%. (The petrol price now is 90% the old price)
• The petrol price decrease TO 80%. (The petrol price now is 80% the old price)
• Production went down FROM 5,000 TO 4,000 units a month.
• Unemployment remained stable AT 2.5 million.

6. Uy Nguyen
substantial/dramatic drop/increase/rise in the rate
PREPOSITIONS
 WITH NOUNS
• increase IN nouns
• There has been an increase in population.
• Increase OF numbers IN nouns
• There has been an increase of 10% in the population.
 WITH VERBS
• The petrol price decreased BY 10%. (The petrol price now is 90% the old price)
• The petrol price decrease TO 80%. (The petrol price now is 80% the old price)
• Production went down FROM 5,000 TO 4,000 units a month.
• Unemployment remained stable AT 2.5 million.