Class: Nine, Ten & SSC English First Paper: Essential phrases and expressions for describing graphs

1.      The provided diagram shows data on employment categories in energy producing sectors in Europe starting from 1925 and till 1985.

2.      The given pie charts represent the proportion of male and female employee in 6 broad categories, divided into manual and non-manual occupations in Freedonia. 

3.      The chart gives information on expenditures of 4 European countries on six consumer products namely Germany, Italy, Britain and France.

4.      The supplied bar graph compares the number of male and female graduated in three developing countries while the table data presents the overall literacy rate in these countries. 

5.      The bar graph and the table data depict the water use in different sectors in five regions.

6.      The bar graph enumerates the money spent on different research projects while the column graph demonstrates the sources of the amount spent over a decade, commencing from 1981.

Starting	Presentation Type	Verb	Description
The given / the supplied / the presented / the shown / the provided/ the	diagram / table / figure / illustration / graph / chart / flow chart / picture/ presentation/ pie chart / bar graph/ column graph / line graph / table data/ data / information / pictorial/ process diagram/ map/ pie chart and table/ bar graph and pie chart ...	shows / represents / depicts / enumerates / illustrates / presents/ gives / provides / describes / compares/ shows contrast / indicates / figures / gives data on / gives information on/ presents information about/ shows data about/ demonstrates/ outlines/ summarises...	the comparison of … the differences … the number of … information on … data on … the proportion of… the amount of … information on... data about...

Increases : a slight/constant/marked/substantial/increase in sales an increase of about/roughly/approximately/in the region of ... % a little over/above what we predicted the recovery/upturn began in (month) an overall increase in ... an upward trend in the demand for ... sales reached record levels / reached a peak in (month) a strong surge in the sales of ... by (month), the figure had risen to ... we predict that sales will soar in the coming year / over the next ... months Decreases : just under our target way below our expectations a slight / notable / significant decrease in ... the downturn began in (month) the situation began to deteriorate in (month) the number has continued to fall Fluctuations : a slow start developed into steady progress in sales an initial upward trend was followed by ... we note slight fluctuations through the year normal seasonal variations are the cause of occasional downward trends sales have been (rather) irregular the level / the rate has been unstable since ... you will note a certain instability in the rate of ...

Conclusions - useful phrases : We must focus our attention on ... What I suggest is ... There is a necessity for ... We need more ... We have no choice but to ... Appropriate measures must be taken The only option we have is to ... These changes are inevitable. We will have to revise our estimation. The result / outcome will be ... I strongly recommend ... To conclude, I am happy / I regret to announce that ...

  The pie chart is about ...

The bar chart deals with ...

The line graph (clearly) shows ...

The slices of the pie chart compare the ...

The chart is divided into ... parts.

It highlights ...

... has the largest (number of) ...

... has the second largest (number of) ...

... is as big as ...

... is twice as big as ...

... is bigger than ...

more than ... per cent ...

only one third ...

less than half ...

The number ... increases/goes up/grows by ...

The number ... decreases/goes down/sinks by ...

The number ... does not change/remains stable

I was really surprised/shocked by the ...

So we can say ...

Use of Tenses

Remember  the correct use of tenses when describung a chart. If the charts deals with facts in the present (as in our example), use the Simple Present, if the facts are the past, then use the Simple Past. If there is a connection between the past and the present, use the Present Perfect.

How to describe a chart

With the following example we would like to show you how charts are described. Mind the three parts and do not repeat the global message in the conclusion.