Two Ways to Say One Line
One movement on a chart, with the verb sentence above it and the noun sentence below.
Click to zoom
The line is the same in each pair. Only the shape of the sentence changes.
Rise, fall, stay steady: the verbs and nouns for describing how a line on a chart moves.
Preview · progress not saved — Chapter 1 is free
One movement, and every way you can currently describe it. Tick honestly.
Every change word has two forms, and having both doubles what you can write about one line.
Every change word in this sprint has a verb form and a noun form, and both describe the same movement.
Verb: Sales increased sharply.
Noun: There was a sharp increase in sales.
Same chart, same fact, two completely different sentences.
That matters because a Task 1 response describes four or five movements. With only the verb form, your fourth sentence repeats your first. With both forms, it does not.
One movement on a chart, with the verb sentence above it and the noun sentence below.
The line is the same in each pair. Only the shape of the sentence changes.
Eight verbs and their noun forms — including the ones that do not have a straightforward pair.
Terms
Definitions
Three decisions, each turning on whether you are giving the endpoint or the amount.
Chain 1
The figures: the number went from 20% to 35%.
The sentence: The figure rose ___ 35%.
Candidates: to / by
The preposition:
Because:
Chain 2
The figures: the same movement, 20% to 35%.
The sentence: The figure rose ___ 15 percentage points.
Candidates: to / by
The preposition:
Because:
Chain 3
The figures: the same movement again, this time using the noun.
The sentence: There was an increase ___ the number of households.
Candidates: in / of
The preposition:
Because:
A Task 1 body paragraph — half the gaps want the verb, half want the noun.
Households owning a car in one city (%)
2010: 42 · 2014: 51 · 2017: 66 · 2020: 64
Car ownership steadily over the first four years, from 42% to 51%. Between 2014 and 2017 there was a much sharper in ownership, and the figure a peak of 66%.
After 2017 the trend reversed. There was a slight of two percentage points, taking the figure 64% by the end of the period.
Over the decade as a whole, ownership by 22 percentage points. in the second half of the period was much slower than in the first, and in the final three years the figure very nearly stable.