Describing Trends, Graphs, And Changes - danieljjh/bbcEnglishWorking GitHub Wiki
In business and everyday English, you sometimes have to describe changes in trends (movement or tendency), graphs, and diagrams.
In the business context, you may have to describe trends in reports, meetings, and presentations. In everyday life, you could describe changes in any subject because things change all the time!
Describing changes and trends generally consists of three parts:
- Use a verb (or an adjective and a noun) to describe movement
- Describe the speed or size of the movement
- Explain the reason or consequence of the change
You can also view it this way: Verb + Speed or Size + Result/Reason/Consequence
Example
In 2011, Samsung's profits increased considerably thanks to its successful Galaxy S series.
Part 1 描述趋势
Here are some verbs you can use to describe change and movement.
Upward Movement 上升趋势
- To climb
- To rise
- To go up
- To improve
- To pick up
- To recover
- To increase
- To reach a peak
Downward Movement 下降趋势
- To fall
- To decline
- To bottom out
- To decrease
- To drop
- To plummet
- To deteriorate
- To hit a low
- To slip back
- To do down
Horizontal Movement 水平
- To even out
- To remain stable
- To stabilize maintain (past: maintained)
- remain (past: remained)
- stay (past: stayed)
- constant
- stable
- steady
- unchanged
Part 2 描述趋势变化的速度和幅度
Here are some adjectives and adverbs you can use to describe the speed and size of change.
Speed of Change 变化的速度
- Rapid - Rapidly
- Slow - Slowly
- Sudden - Suddenly
- Sharp - Sharply
- Steady - Steadily
- Gradual - Gradually
- Fast - Quickly
Size of Change 变化的幅度
- Noticeable - Noticeably
- Substantial - Substantially
- Considerable - Considerably
- Slight - Slightly
- Significant - Significantly
- Dramatic - Dramatically
- Negligible - Negligibly
Part 3 解释原因，后果，结果
Here are some expressions you can use to express reason, consequence, and result:
- As a result of
- Due to
- Because of
- Was the reason for
- Caused
- Resulted in
- Explains
- Accounts for
- That is why
- Consequently
- So
- Thanks to
Time Expressions You Can Use 时间
- In January / In 2011
- In Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4 (In the first quarter / second quarter / third quarter / fourth quarter)
- From January to March
Examples
Apple's sales increased significantly due to the launch of the iPhone 4. [verb + adverb construction]
There was a significant increase in Apple's sales due to the launch of the iPhone 4. [adjective + noun (word) construction] Our turnover remained stable in January and February. However, in March and April, it dropped suddenly as a result of the financial crisis. [verb + adverb construction]
In March and April, there was a sudden drop in our turnover as a result of the financial crisis. [adjective + noun (word) construction]
It is clear that ____represents the largest portion of _____, whereas _____ is undoubtedly the smallest.
Sales of _____ stood at % in 1925, which is the majority of___.
(If the percentage is around 60%) – Nearly a third…
(If the percentage is around 52%) – Over a half of all respondents…
Here are a few examples of good wording for the smallest section of your Pie Chart:
A small fraction…
Exactly 30% of students…
(If the percentage is around 25%) Roughly a quarter of respondents
…whereas sales for _____ were just 10%.
In 1955 approximately three quarters were ____, whereas in 1960 this had fallen to just under a fifth.
