The grammar matters more than the words
Before any of the vocabulary below is useful, four structures have to be automatic. Candidates who have memorised twenty trend verbs and none of these still write inaccurate Task 1 answers, because every one of these patterns is a place where an error is visible to an examiner in a single glance.
| Pattern | Correct | The error to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Verb + adverb | Sales rose sharply. | Sales rose sharp. The adverb is the commonest slip on the paper. |
| Adjective + noun | There was a sharp rise in sales. | There was a sharply rise. The same fact, the other grammar — and the two must not be mixed. |
| from … to … | It rose from 12 million to 30 million. | It rose from 12 million until 30 million. |
| increase of / increase in | an increase of 12% · an increase in production | an increase of production. Of takes the amount; in takes the thing. |
The four patterns every Task 1 answer needs. Learn them as patterns, not as rules.
The second row is the one to drill. Being able to say the same fact both ways — visits fell steadily and there was a steady fall in visits — is what stops an answer from repeating one sentence pattern for 180 words, and it is worth more under Grammatical Range and Accuracy than any amount of new vocabulary.
Going up
Eight verbs and nouns for an increase, all from Trends & Transformation, which holds 50 words on this theme. The distinctions between them are real: surge and soar are not interchangeable, and using a dramatic verb for an unremarkable change is a lexical error even though every individual word is correct.
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surge/sɜːdʒ/
a sudden, large upward movement — use it for a spike, not a trend
From Trends & Transformation: “There was a surge in demand.”
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soar/sɔː/
a steep and sustained rise; strongest of the rise verbs
From Trends & Transformation: “Prices began to soar.”
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accelerate/əkˈsel.ə.reɪt/
the rate of increase itself goes up — the curve steepens
From Trends & Transformation: “Demand began to accelerate.”
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escalation/ˌes.kəˈleɪ.ʃən/
a noun for an increase that is unwelcome: costs, conflict, demand on a service
From Trends & Transformation: “There was an escalation in costs.”
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expansion/ɪkˈspæn.ʃən/
growth in size or extent rather than in a count
From Trends & Transformation: “Rapid expansion brought problems.”
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uptake/ˈʌp.teɪk/
how quickly something is adopted — right for take-up of a service or product
From Trends & Transformation: “The uptake of the app was fast.”
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proliferate/prəˈlɪf.ə.reɪt/
increase by multiplying in number and spreading
From Trends & Transformation: “Coffee shops proliferate in the city.”
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flourish/ˈflʌr.ɪʃ/
grow strongly and healthily; carries a positive judgement, so use it carefully
From Trends & Transformation: “The arts began to flourish.”
- Demand surged in the final quarter, having been broadly flat for the preceding two years.
- Cinema attendance soared between 2000 and 2018, more than doubling over the period.
- The rate of growth accelerated after 2018, so that the last six years account for nearly half of the total increase.
- The figures show a steady expansion in the number of households connected, rather than any sudden jump.
Going down, and going nowhere
Fewer words are needed here, because Task 1 asks for fewer distinctions on the way down. What matters is matching the steepness of the verb to the steepness of the line, and having something to say about a flat line other than stayed the same.
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plummet/ˈplʌm.ɪt/
fall steeply and suddenly — the mirror of soar
From Trends & Transformation: “Sales began to plummet.”
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dwindle/ˈdwɪn.dəl/
shrink gradually towards very little; implies a long decline
From Trends & Transformation: “Their savings began to dwindle.”
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wane/weɪn/
fade away, usually of interest, popularity or influence
From Trends & Transformation: “Interest began to wane.”
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stagnate/stæɡˈneɪt/
stop moving at all — the flat line, with a negative colouring
From Trends & Transformation: “The market began to stagnate.”
- Library visits dwindled throughout the period, falling from 380,000 to under half that figure.
- Interest in the format waned after 2012, though it never disappeared entirely.
- Bus use stagnated for most of the decade before recovering slightly in the final two years.
- Share prices plummeted in a single quarter, wiping out the gains of the preceding three years.
How much: degree and extent
The most under-used family in Task 1, and the one that turns a description into a summary. These come from Quality & Degree and Size, Degree & Extent.
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marginal/ˈmɑː.dʒɪ.nəl/
so small it barely registers — for a change of a point or two
From Quality & Degree: “There was only a marginal gain.”
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considerable/kənˈsɪd.ər.ə.bəl/
large enough to matter; the safe workhorse for a big change
From Quality & Degree: “It took considerable effort.”
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negligible/ˈneɡ.lɪ.dʒə.bəl/
small enough to be ignorable — stronger than marginal
From Quality & Degree: “The cost was negligible.”
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conspicuous/kənˈspɪk.ju.əs/
impossible to miss in the shape of the data
From Quality & Degree: “He felt conspicuous in the crowd.”
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fractional/ˈfræk.ʃən.əl/
a very small proportion of the whole
From Size, Degree & Extent: “There was a fractional rise.”
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disproportionate/ˌdɪs.prəˈpɔː.ʃən.ət/
larger than the share you would expect — a comparison word, not a size word
From Size, Degree & Extent: “The fine seems disproportionate.”
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incremental/ˌɪŋ.krəˈmen.təl/
arriving in small, steady steps rather than in one jump
From Size, Degree & Extent: “Progress was incremental.”
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exponential/ˌek.spəˈnen.ʃəl/
growth whose rate itself keeps rising; almost always misused, so only write it if the curve really does that
From Size, Degree & Extent: “There was exponential growth.”
Comparison, and joining two facts in one sentence
Comparison is what the instruction explicitly asks for, and the marks are in the joins. These four connectives, from Connectors & Cohesion, do more for a Task 1 answer than any trend verb, because each one lets you put two facts in one sentence and state their relationship — which is the difference between a summary and a list.
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conversely/ˈkɒn.vɜːs.li/
introduces the opposite pattern — the second of two series moving different ways
From Connectors & Cohesion: “Conversely, demand may rise.”
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by contrast/baɪ ˈkɒn.trɑːst/
the same job at the start of a sentence, and easier to punctuate correctly
From Connectors & Cohesion: “By contrast, the south stayed dry.”
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correspondingly/ˌkɒr.ɪˈspɒn.dɪŋ.li/
the second figure moved because of the shape of the first, without asserting a cause
From Connectors & Cohesion: “Demand rose and prices rose correspondingly.”
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markedly/ˈmɑː.kɪd.li/
an adverb of degree for a difference, not for a movement
From Connectors & Cohesion: “Standards have markedly improved.”
And two more from Cause, Effect & Logic — a B2 topic rather than a C1 one, which is the point. The most valuable connective on this task is an ordinary word most candidates already know and do not use.
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whereas/weərˈæz/
joins two contrasting facts inside one sentence, which is what Task 1 needs most
From Cause, Effect & Logic: “He is calm, whereas she is anxious.”
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nevertheless/ˌnev.ə.ðəˈles/
concedes the previous fact before adding one that cuts against it
From Cause, Effect & Logic: “It rained; nevertheless, we went out.”
- Printed reading rose gently with age, whereas both digital formats declined.
- Audiobook use was highest among the youngest group. Conversely, printed books were most popular among the oldest.
- The swimming pool grew throughout, markedly so after 2018.
- Library visits fell in every period measured. Cinema attendance, by contrast, rose for most of the period before easing back.
- Cinema attendance peaked in 2018 and fell back thereafter; it nevertheless remained well above its level at the start of the period.
One word to recognise, and leave out
Task 1 forbids explaining why, and the fastest way to break that rule accidentally is with a word that assigns a cause without sounding as if it does. Both of these are from Cause, Effect & Logic; the first is safe and the second is not.
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correlate/ˈkɒr.ə.leɪt/
move together — the honest verb for two lines that track each other
From Cause, Effect & Logic: “The two figures correlate closely.”
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attributable/əˈtrɪb.jə.tə.bəl/
assigns a cause, which is exactly what Task 1 forbids: listed here so you recognise it and leave it out
From Cause, Effect & Logic: “The rise is attributable to demand.”
- ✓ Movements in the two lines correlate closely throughout the period. This describes the chart.
- ✗ The fall in library visits is attributable to the spread of home internet access. This explains the chart, which the task did not ask for and does not reward.
What not to learn
Rather more Task 1 vocabulary advice is actively harmful than helpful, and it is worth naming the three commonest pieces of it.
- Synonym chains. Lists of "twenty ways to say increase" produce answers that use a different word for every rise in a determined attempt to avoid repetition. Repetition of an accurate word is not penalised; a wrong word chosen to avoid it is. Vary the grammar — verb, noun, adjective — rather than hunting for the twentieth synonym.
- Prefabricated opening sentences. The given graph illustrates the information regarding… is a formula, it does not count towards your word total if it is lifted from the prompt, and examiners see it constantly. Describe what the chart shows in your own words in one plain sentence.
- Ornamental adjectives. A whopping increase, a drastic plunge. The register of Task 1 is neutral and factual. Judgement words are the wrong tone and, in an Academic answer, they read as an opinion the task did not ask for.
The productive version of vocabulary preparation for this task is narrow and finite: the four grammar patterns above, one accurate word for each degree of movement, the four connectives, and the ability to say any fact twice in two different structures. That is perhaps forty items, and you can finish learning it in a fortnight.