Talking About Line Graphs
Words in [brackets] are placeholders. Replace them with the
year, figure, country, or group on your own chart.
1. Say what the chart shows
- This chart shows [what is measured] in [country or group].
- This chart compares [what is measured] in [number] [countries or groups].
- The chart shows how [what is measured] changed between [first year] and [last year].
- The figures are given in [percent / years / dollars / units per person].
- Each line represents one [country or group].
Example: This chart shows life expectancy in Japan, the United States, India, and Nigeria between 1950 and 2023. The figures are given in years.
2. Going up
- rose / increased / went up / grew
- climbed / has climbed steadily
- doubled / tripled / more than doubled
- shot up / surged / took off (use for strong increases)
- has been rising since [year]
Example: Internet use in India rose from almost zero in 1990 to about 70 percent in 2025.
3. Going down
- fell / decreased / went down / dropped
- declined / has declined steadily
- halved / fell by half
- collapsed / plummeted (use for strong decreases)
- has been falling since [year]
Example: The price of solar power fell from over 100 dollars per watt in 1975 to under 0.30 dollars today.
4. How fast and how big
| Verb + adverb | Adjective + noun |
|---|---|
| rose sharply | a sharp rise |
| fell steadily | a steady fall |
| grew slowly / gradually | a gradual increase |
| increased slightly | a slight increase |
| dropped suddenly | a sudden drop |
| rose dramatically | a dramatic rise |
5. Staying the same, and going up and down
- stayed the same / remained stable / held steady
- stayed flat / has been almost flat
- hovered around [figure]
- leveled off / flattened out after [year]
- fluctuated between [figure] and [figure]
Example: France's line has stayed almost flat, at around 90 percent, for the whole period.
6. Highs, lows, and turning points
- reached a peak / peaked at [figure] in [year]
- hit its highest point in [year]
- reached a low of [figure] / bottomed out in [year]
- the turning point was around [year]
- the line started to rise quickly around [year]
- it has recovered / has almost returned to the [year] level
- it has not yet recovered to its [year] level
Example: Air passenger numbers peaked in 2019, collapsed in 2020, and have recovered since then, but they have not quite returned to the 2019 level.
7. Comparing two lines
- higher than / lower than
- much higher / slightly lower / far lower
- about the same as / similar to
- [A] is the highest, and [B] is the lowest.
- Both rose, but [A] rose faster.
- While [A] fell, [B] stayed the same.
- [A] overtook [B] in [year].
- [A] has caught up with the average.
- [B] has fallen behind.
8. Gaps
- the gap between [A] and [B]
- there is a large gap / a small gap between them
- the gap has widened / has grown
- the gap has narrowed / has closed
- in [year] the gap was [figure], but today it is only [figure]
9. Giving numbers
- about / around / roughly [figure]
- just over / just under [figure]
- nearly / almost [figure]
- a little more than / slightly less than [figure]
- rose from [figure] to [figure]
10. Talking about time
- in [year] / in the [decade] / by [year]
- between [first year] and today
- from [first year] to [last year]
- over the last [number] years
- during this period / over the whole period
- since [year] (with the present perfect: it has risen since [year])
11. Looking ahead
- the chart projects that...
- [A] is projected to reach [figure] by [year].
- the figure is expected to keep rising.
- if the trend continues, ...
- the projection shows a slower rise after [year].