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2. IELTS Writing

3. Three different
ways to describe
numbers.

4. You can use numbers, fractions or percentage, to talk about numbers:
Look at the following table that shows the price of X in two different years:
Year 1990 1995
Value $ 500 $ 750
The price of X rose/increased by $250, from $ 500
to $ 750. (numbers)
The price of X rose/increased by half, from $
500 to $ 750. (fractions)
The price of X rose/increased 50%, from $ 500
to $ 750. (percentage)
You can describe these figures in three different ways:

5. Where to put
numbers in the
sentence.

6. You can put the numbers at the beginning and
also at the end of the sentence.
But figures at the beginning are clearer and
more natural. It is best to have the "figures at
the beginning" structure as your first choice.
But don’t stick to one structure, it is good to
vary your sentence with both options.

7. 10 million people voted in the election.
A quarter of the population voted.
25% of people voted in the election.
Figures at the beginning of sentences(Examples) :

8. The number of people who voted in the election was 10
million.
The proportion of the population that voted was a quarter.
The figure for/percentage of people who voted in the
election was 25%.
Figures at the end of sentences (examples):

9. Handling
multiple
numbers

10. Here are 3 useful
techniques for handling
multiple numbers.
Put the first numbers at
the start of the sentence.
Use while, whereas or
compared to (after a
comma) and add another
comparison.
Use the figure for to add
another comparison in the
next sentence.

11. In 1999, over 60,000, roughly 35% of British people
went abroad for their holidays, while only 35,000 (28%)
of Australians spent their holidays in a different country.
The figure for the USA stood at 55,000 around 31%.
Around 400,0000 ,40% of women in the UK had an
undergraduate qualification in 1999, compared to
380,000, 37% of men. The figures for the year 2000 rose
slightly to 42% and 38% respectively.
Model sentences with multiple numbers:

12. Words/phrases of
approximation for
describing
numbers.

13. Most often you don’t
get exact numbers in
the chart. There is
always a need for
approximation in
describing numbers.
Approximately
Nearly
Roughly
Almost
About
Around
You need following words to describe approximation:

14. Useful phrases of approximation for describing numbers:
More or
less
Just over
Just under
Just around
Just about
Just below
A little
more than
A little less
than.

15. Rules for
writing
percentage(%).

16. the word “percent” comes after a number
More than 25% of the students are from Brazil.
More than 25 percent of the students come from Brazil.

17. The word percentage comes after words like the or a.
Often, it is preceded by an adjective.
A small percentage of residents have lived in the building
for more than 20 years.
The percentage of students who live on campus has fallen sharply
since the fire.

18. The word percentage cannot be used with figures.
Do not write like this:
The biggest overall increase in sales was in China, rising from
15 percentage in 2001 to 37 percentage in 2007.
You must write this:
The biggest overall increase in sales was in China, rising from
15 percent in 2001 to 37 percent in 2007.

19.  Where to put the percentage in sentences.
 You could put the percentage at the beginning of the sentence (example 1), or at the
end of the sentence (example 2):
(1) 6% of single aged people were living in poverty.
(2) The level of poverty among single aged people stood at 6%.
 You could also add a comparison:
 6% of single aged people were living in poverty, compared to only 4% of aged couples.
 The level of poverty among single aged people stood at 6%, whereas the figure for
aged couples was only 4%.

20. Here are 3 useful techniques for describing percentages:
 English speakers usually put the percentage at the start of the sentence.
 Use while, whereas or compared to (after a comma) to add a comparison.
 Use "the figure for" to add another comparison in the next sentence.
 Use these examples as models for your own sentences:
In 1999, 35% of British people went abroad for their holidays, while only 28% of Australians
spent their holidays in a different country. The figure for the USA stood at 31%.
Around 40% of women in the UK had an undergraduate qualification in 1999, compared
to 37% of men. The figures for the year 2000 rose slightly to 42% and 38% respectively.

21. When you have a percentage, the verb needs to agree with the
noun that comes after it.
For example:
50% of people were happy with the service. ('people' is plural)
50% of the project was completed last year. ('project' is singular)
Singular or plural after %

22. The number of Japanese tourists who travelled abroad increased dramatically from just under 5 million to around 15
million between 1985 and 1995, a rise of about 10 million in 10 years.
The next step after writing this sentence about Japanese tourists would be to add a comparison with tourists from the
other countries shown on the graph or chart.
The number of Japanese tourists who travelled abroad increased dramatically from just under 5
million to around 15 million between 1985 and 1995, a rise of about 10 million in 10 years. By
contrast, the number of Australians who visited other countries remained stable, at just over 7 million,
and the figure for Canada fell slightly, from 6 million travellers in 1985 to 5.5 million in 1995.
How to add compressions.
See this example of number of tourists who travelled abroad :

23.  Nouns and verbs (1)
 Charts and tables usually show category names as nouns rather than verbs. However,
you need to find the right verb in order to write a good sentence.
 Example:
Don't write:
- Walking was 255 miles per person in 1985.
- Car was the highest form of transport.
Do write:
- The average person walked 255 miles in 1985.
- People travelled more miles by car than by any other form of transport.

24. Don't write this
In 2012, text message was 95%, while email was only 52%.
Write like this:
The number of people used text messaging in 2012 stood at 95% while who
used emails were only 52% in the same year.
 Nouns and verbs (2)

25. "Canada decreased" or "the USA was the highest“?
 See this example:
 The unemployment rate in the UK rose by 2% between 2008 and 2009,
whereas Canada decreased by about 1%. The USA was the highest, at just
over 4%.
 You can't write "Canada decreased" or "the USA was the highest".
 These phrases don't make sense. Canada, the country, didn't decrease! We
need to describe the thing that decreased properly - in this case it's the
"unemployment rate".
 Instead of saying that countries decreased or were highest, describe the
topic properly like this:
 - Unemployment in Canada decreased.
- The USA had the highest rate of unemployment.

26. Now look at these four sentences:
1. In 1985, Canada was about 19 million
tonnes.
2. Australia was lower, at 15 million tonnes of
wheat exports.
3. In 1988, Canada increased by about 5
million tonnes of wheat exports.
4. Australia was about 11 million tonnes of
wheat in 1990.
Here are the correct versions of those sentences:
1. In 1985, Canada exported about 19 million tonnes of
wheat.
2. The figure for Australia was lower, at 15 million tonnes.
3. In 1988, Canada's wheat exports increased by 5 million
tonnes.
4. Australia exported about 11 million tonnes of wheat in
1990.

27.  IELTS Grammar: 'highest' or 'the highest'?
 Most grammar books will tell you that you need "the" before a superlative like
"highest" or "lowest", but this is not always true.
 We use "the" when there is a noun after the adjective e.g. the highest number, the
highest proportion.
 When we put the noun before, we don't need "the" e.g. the number was highest,
the proportion was highest.
 So, compare these 2 sentences:
 - The UK had the highest rate of unemployment.
- The unemployment rate was highest in the UK.

28.  Don't describe items on a graph or chart
in terms of first, second or last.
 For example, don't write:
 Theme parks were first.
 Theme parks came first, and museums were in second place.
 In last place were wildlife parks and zoos.
 Instead, you should write:
 Theme parks were the most popular type of tourist attraction.
 Theme parks attracted the highest proportion of visitors, and museums were the second most
visited attraction.
 Wildlife parks and zoos were the least popular of the four types of tourist attraction.

29. Double, treble,
and multi-fold
in numbers.

30. See these examples:
1992 1994 1996
500 1000 3000
The figure doubled between 1992 and
1994
The figure trebled between 1994 and
1996.

31. There was a twofold increase in the number of
unemployed people between 2005 and 2009.
(adjective with the noun ‘increase’)
The number of unemployed people increased twofold
between 2005 and 2009. (adverb with the verb
‘increase’)
‘twofold’, ‘threefold’ – as an adjective or adverb

32. One
common
mistake in
describing
numbers.

33. One of the most important skill for task 1 is to be able to
describe numbers correctly. Very often students make
following mistake when it comes to describing numbers:
15 thousands students
Five millions of cars
Two hundreds points/units
Online shoppers bought 2 millions of books
Correct:
15 thousand students
five million cars
Two hundred points/units
Online shoppers bought 2 million books

34. Hera are few common mistakes in describing numbers with ‘of’ :
2 millions of people/cars
2 million of people/cars
Correct: 2 million people/cars
•Note:
When there is no number, we do write "millions of".
e.g. Millions of people travel abroad each year/ millions of cars
manufactured every year
•When there is a number we say "131 million tonnes".

35. Few examples
of sentences
describing
numbers.

36. Here are 4 different sentences describing the 'all
marriages' figure for the year 1951 :
Around 400,000 couples got married in the UK in
1951.
In 1951, there were around 400,000 marriages in
the UK.
In 1951, the number of UK marriages stood at
about 400,000.
In 1951, the figure for marriages in the UK was
approximately 400,000.
UK marriages, 1951 - 2009
A good exercise is to choose one piece of information (a number) from a graph or chart
and try to describe it in several different ways.

37.  "compared to", "compared with" and "in comparison with"
 You can use "compared to", "compared with" and "in comparison with" in the
same way. For example:
 Prices in the UK are high compared to / with / in comparison with (prices in) Canada
and Australia.
 Compared to / with / in comparison with (prices in) Canada and Australia, prices in
the UK are high.
 We don't say "comparing to".

38. In 1970, 60 million tonnes of goods were
transported by road.
The amount of goods transported by road in
1970, totaled 60 million tonnes.
Road vehicles were used to transport 60
million tonnes of goods in 1970.
You should notice that it's much easier to begin with the number (sentence 1) This is how you should usually write
sentences for task 1 .
Number 2 is good, but you might find that you repeat "the amount of goods" too many times if you only use this type of
sentence.
Number 3 is the most difficult. You can't say "Road was used", so you have to add the word "vehicles". Most students
make a mistake here.
It's useful to think about how to start your sentences. For example, here are some
sentences about the year 1970.

39. A sentence about the year 2000:
In the year 2000, the average global oil price was close to $25 per barrel, and the food price index
stood at just under 90 points.
A sentence about the years 2000 to 2007:
Over the following four years, both prices remained relatively stable, in spite of frequent small
fluctuations, before rising steadily between 2004 and 2007.
A sentence about the year 2007:
By 2007, the average oil price had more than doubled, to nearly $60 per barrel, and food prices had
risen by around 50 points.

40. A sentence about the years 2007 to 2008:
A dramatic increase in oil and food prices was seen from 2007 to 2008, with oil prices reaching a peak of
approximately $130 per barrel and the food price index rising to 220 points.
A sentence about the year 2009:
By the beginning of 2009, the price of oil had dropped by roughly $90, and the food price index was down by
about 80 points.
A sentence about the year 2011:
In 2011, both food and oil prices went up but there was a dramatic increase in food price index which
increased by nearly a third from 170 to 240 points while oil price raised from 80 to just over 100 dollars
per barrel.

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