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[Music]
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even though this video is specifically
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aimed at students taking the academic
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version of the IELTS exam all students
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at an intermediate or advanced level
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will find the information beneficial
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especially students that are interested
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in business English IELTS academic
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writing task one is a description task
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you will be given a line graph a bar
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chart a pie chart or table and you are
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tested on your ability to interpret the
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information that is presented in it and
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describe this in your own words
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occasionally you will have a diagram or
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a flowchart and will need to describe
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the stages of the process or how
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something works we will explain more
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about this in another video but for now
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we will concentrate on describing trends
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for IELTS academic writing task 1 you
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must write a minimum of a hundred and
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fifty words and you should spend 20
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minutes completing this task remember a
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hundred and fifty words is the minimum
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it is not your objective you should aim
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for a hundred and seventy words in order
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to do well in this section you need to
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know specific vocabulary related to
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describing trends we will learn this
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vocabulary by looking at line graphs
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here is a simple line graph line graphs
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are used to show trends or tendencies
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that happen over a period of time a
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graph has an x axis which gives us
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information on the horizontal axis
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and a y-axis which gives us information
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on the vertical axis
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it is important to read what each axis
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is about in this graph the x-axis shows
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us the time period years
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more specifically the years from 2008 to
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2016 if you're not sure about how to say
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the year in English see our video about
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it the link is in the description
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the y-axis tells us the number of books
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sold in thousands a quick question for
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you how many books were sold in 2010 if
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you say
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in 2010 a hundred and twenty books were
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sold this is wrong why because a hundred
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and twenty thousand books were sold this
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information appears on the y-axis the
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IELTS examiner will check to see if you
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have read and understood the information
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and the x and y-axes with line graphs it
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is important to look at the general
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features or characteristics of the graph
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and not just repeat the numbers at each
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time interval if you say in 2008 a
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hundred and fifty thousand books were
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sold in 2010 a hundred and twenty
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thousand books were sold in 2012 a
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hundred thousand books were sold in 2014
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oh this is boring you are just repeating
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what happens at each time interval the
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examiner will ignore this type of
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response as you are not explaining the
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general trends
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what is the general trend you can see
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here it goes down what is another way of
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saying that something goes in a downward
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direction we could use decline decrease
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or drop so how can we describe the
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general trend of this graph we could say
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the graph shows a decline in the number
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of grammar books sold
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notice how we used a noun in this
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example a decline but this information
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is a little incomplete we need to add
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the time period what is the starting
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point 2008 what is the end point 2016 so
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we can say the graph shows a decline in
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the number of books sold between 2008
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and 2016 do you know of another way of
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saying this time period we can say the
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graph shows a decline in the number of
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grammar books sold over an eight-year
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period the difference between 2008 and
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2016 is 8 years yes it says 8 year
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period without an S and not 8 years
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period why
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eight year is an adjective and
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adjectives never have a singular or
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plural form adjectives only have one
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form we say one red car red is an
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adjective because it describes the car
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the car is red we say two red cars red
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is used with one two three or million
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cars the adjective red does not change
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we never say two red cars
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no there is no s at the end of red
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because it is an adjective
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adjectives have only one form you will
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also notice there is a dash or hyphen
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between the word eight and year this is
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used to combine the two words to make an
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adjective or more specifically a
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compound adjectives a compound adjective
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is when a hyphen is used to join two or
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more words together to make an adjective
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now note sometimes native English
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speakers don't put the hyphen between
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the two words but you are expected to do
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so for the exam also it shows the
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examiner you have a very good level of
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English so it's a good thing to do
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let's see some more examples of compound
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adjectives used with periods of time
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he works a 40-hour week there's no s
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after hour he went on a three-week
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vacation there's no s after week it is a
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four month contract again no s after
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month
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now change the following sentences to
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include a compound adjective for example
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he works eight hours a day can become he
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works an eight-hour day eight-hour is
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the compound adjective click pause right
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now to give yourself time to complete
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the activity when you are ready just
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click play again
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now we will check your answers her
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daughter is five months old becomes she
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has a five month old daughter
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notice how this compound adjective is
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made up of three words yes the old part
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needs to be there when you give an age
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the next one
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there was a difference of 20 seconds
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there was a 20 second difference no s
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after the second
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had seven pages it was a seven page
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document the class lasted two hours it
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was a two hour class let's look at the
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graph again here are two similar
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statements about it the graph shows the
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number of books sold has dropped and the
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graph shows a drop in the number of
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books sold
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how much of a drop was it was it by a
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large amount or a small amount with our
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description we don't know so we need to
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add additional information look at these
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two words to describe the trend
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considerable and considerably what I
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want you to do right now is in each
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statement add the word considerable or
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the word considerably in its correct
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position use pause again to give
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yourself some time to complete this
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now where does each word go
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the number of books sold has dropped
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considerably the graph shows a
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considerable drop in the number of books
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sold why did we put considerably in the
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first sentence and considerable in the
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second one why did we put them in that
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position in each sentence let's look at
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the first sentence the number of books
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sold has dropped considerably the word
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considerably is placed at the end after
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the verb why to describe a verb or how
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something happens we use an adverb the
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word order is normally verb plus adverb
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some examples it dropped considerably
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drop is a verb dropped is the past tense
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of that verb and to describe how it
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dropped we use the adverb considerably
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she walked slowly he ate quickly notice
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how the adverb comes after the verb we
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also know considerably is an adverb
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because it ends in L why most adverbs
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not all end in ly how did it drop
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considerably
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how did she walk slowly how did heat
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quickly we are describing how something
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happens so we use an adverb
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how about the next sentence the graph
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shows a considerable drop in the number
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of books sold
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to give more information we added
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considerable before drop why
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considerable is an adjective adjectives
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describe things and they go before and
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now the word order is adjective plus
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noun the graph shows a considerable drop
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in the number of books sold some
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examples of adjectives with nouns are a
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considerable drop how was the drop
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considerable the adjective considerable
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describes a noun
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drop the next one a slow decline a sharp
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increase considerable slow and sharp all
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describe the trend there adjectives and
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adjectives go before a noun
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so let's look at these two sentences
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again why did we include these
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highlighted words in each sentence we do
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this to give a more accurate description
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of the trend my IELTS writing tip you
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have to imagine that the examiner cannot
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see the graph so you need to give a
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detailed description by saying how
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things changed and by including numbers
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to state these changes if I say the
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price of chocolate rose how do you
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imagine the graph to be is it like this
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the price of chocolate rose or is it
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like this the price of chocolate rose is
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there a difference yes of course there
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is a huge difference if you just say
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prices rose without saying how much they
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rose that rise could be slightly as in
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graph one or sharply as in graph two
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they look and are very different that is
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why you need to give a more complete
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more accurate description of the graph
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in graph one we can see that the price
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of chocolate rose slightly in graph two
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we can see the price of chocolate rose
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sharply now we need to learn more
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vocabulary to describe trends let's
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start with verbs verbs tell us there is
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an action oh that something happened
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what are some verbs that describe an
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upward trend rise jump grow climb go up
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increase and soar soar means to increase
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rapidly above the normal level what are
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some verbs that describe a downward
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trend fall draw
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decline decrease go down plunge and
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plummet plummet and plunge both mean to
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suddenly decrease in a very rapid and
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almost straight down way as we have seen
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to give a more accurate description we
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have to use adverbs after the verb
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adverbs describe how something happens
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some common adverbs include slightly
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slowly this means it happens at a small
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rate or small amount then we have
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steadily gradually and moderately which
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mean that the change is that more than a
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small amount though not a large amount
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when the change is by a large amount we
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can use considerably significantly and
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substantially when the change is by a
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very large amount we can use rapidly
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sharply quickly or steeply you can see
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that these adverbs have different
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degrees of strength
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but sometimes the pattern or trend isn't
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always up or down sometimes the trend
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remains more or less stable or the same
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here we can use the verbs stay or remain
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followed by constant steady stable or
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unchanged yes
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there's no ly at the end of these words
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let's look at some examples of this
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vocabulary and use
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examples of sentences using words that
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show an upward trend the number of cars
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in the city increased significantly
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between 2010 and 2015
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action rose slightly from 800 units in
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may to eight hundred and twenty units
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the following month
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of sentences using words that show a
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downward trend prices of Model X dropped
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considerably once model y became
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available on the market
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in 2017 company profits decreased
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moderately as was expected
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notice the word order our verb plus
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adverb increased significantly rose
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slightly dropped considerably decreased
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moderately now some examples of
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sentences using words that show a stable
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trend prices remain stable during the
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first six months the number of people
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employed at the company has remained
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unchanged for the last three years
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remain is used much more than the verb
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stay as we saw earlier we don't always
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use verb plus adverb to describe a trend
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sometimes we use an adjective plus and
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noun the number of books sold has
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dropped considerably which is an example
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of a verb plus adverb there was a
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considerable drop in the number of books
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sold this is an example of an adjective
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plus a noun this means we need to learn
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some nouns to
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fortunately most of the verbs have the
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same spelling or form when they are
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nouns for example the verb to drop
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becomes the noun drop the verb to fall
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becomes a noun fall the verb to rise
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becomes the noun rise just be careful
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with the exceptions to grow becomes the
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noun growth to improve becomes the noun
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improvement to fluctuate becomes
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fluctuation to vary becomes variation to
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reduce becomes reduction to lose becomes
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loss now listen to these words verb to
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increase noun an increase there's a
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difference in pronunciation between the
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verb increase and the noun increase
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notice how the x end is on different
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syllables depending on whether we are
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giving the noun or the verb we will see
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more about this difference in another
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video
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now that we have most of the nouns verbs
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and adverbs we need
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let's see some example sentences first a
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trends that contain a verb plus adverb
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the verb tells us what happened
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the adverb tells us how did it change
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here we have the subject sales what
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happened to the sales we need a verb
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fell how did it change how did it fall
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slightly which is an adverb sales fell
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slightly more examples prices dropped
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sharply production rose steadily the
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percentage of X decreased significantly
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the number of X increased dramatically
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notice that the verb is normally in the
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past tense as we're talking about trends
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that happened and finished in the past
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though of course you need to double
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check this
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when we want to use an adjective plus
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noun to describe a trend we often use
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their plus a form of the verb to be plus
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the article before the adjective and
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noun in the next example sentences
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I will also vary the tenses but mostly
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you'll use the past tense there is a
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slight rise in sales there was a gradual
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fall and the price of X
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there has been a dramatic drop in the
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rate there will be a steady decline in
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the number here is a chart containing a
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list of words in there noun form
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infinitive form past tense form and past
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participle form unfortunately it is not
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complete try to complete the information
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in this table yourself for example if
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the noun is rise and the infinitive is
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to rise
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what is the past tense of rise rose and
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what is the past participle of rise
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risen now you complete the rest of the
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table I will give you the answer in five
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seconds so I recommend pausing the video
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to give yourself more time to complete
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the table
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I will now show you the answers the
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words with an asterisk are irregular so
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you should pay attention to these when
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you learn a new word try to remember the
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other forms of it which means see if it
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has a noun form or a verb form if the
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word does have a verb form learn what it
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is in the past tense and its past
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participants
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now you may have noticed the last word
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dip what does that mean look at this
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chart a dip is a momentary drop in the
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level of something before it returns to
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its normal level the verb is to dip we
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double the final P and the past tense
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some additional ways of describing
00:24:25
trends include a fluctuation this is an
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irregular rising and falling in number
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or amount it is like a variation
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something that is not stable the verb is
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to fluctuate for example prices
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fluctuated over that time period we also
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have a peak which is the highest point
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peak is a noun to use it with a verb we
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say reach a peak which means it goes up
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to arrive at its highest point the
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opposite of peak is the lowest point or
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lowest amount we can use two verbs with
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this fall towards lowest point or hit
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its lowest point
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notice how we need the preposition to
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after fall but we don't use to after the
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verb hit a plateau is when the trend
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goes up and then remains level or stable
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for an amount of time the verb to use
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with Plateau is reach a plateau
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now look at the following charts each
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chart shows a different trend let's look
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at the first one what does the trend
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show it is an increase but if we look at
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chart number 6 the last one it is also
00:26:04
an increase are they different of course
00:26:08
they are so we need to be more specific
00:26:12
in graph 1 we can see a significant
00:26:17
increase here we used a noun or more
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specifically an adjective plus a noun
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how can we describe the same chart using
00:26:31
a verb also put that verb in the past
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tense we could say it increased
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significantly significant is an
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adjective
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what we use with a noun since now we
00:26:48
have used a verb we need it's adverb
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form which is significantly give a
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description of the rest of the chance
00:26:58
using a noun and part a and a verb and
00:27:02
the past tense in Part B click pause to
00:27:07
give yourself more time to complete this
00:27:09
activity when you are ready click play
00:27:12
the answers will appear in five seconds
00:27:22
Grethe - shows a drop or a decline we
00:27:28
can describe it as a slight decline how
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can we change this to include a verb it
00:27:36
declined slightly you could also use
00:27:41
other verbs like it dropped slightly it
00:27:43
fell slightly so there isn't only one
00:27:46
answer graph three shows a peak we don't
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normally use an adjective with a peak as
00:27:55
it refers to the highest point of
00:27:57
something
00:27:59
what verb do you use with peak we say it
00:28:04
reached a peak
00:28:07
what does graph for say it shows a
00:28:12
stable pattern or stable trend how can
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we change this to include a verb it
00:28:20
remained stable
00:28:23
what does graph 5 show it shows a sharp
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fall or a sharp drop how can we change
00:28:32
this to include a verb it fell sharply
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remember that the past tense of fall is
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irregular it is foul it fell sharply the
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final graph number 6 what does it show
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it shows a gradual rise or a slight rise
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or a gradual increase these are all
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correct how can we change this to
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include a verb it grows gradually rose
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is their regular past tense of the verb
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to rise it rose gradually
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this is the first video of our series of
00:29:20
lessons to help you pass the IELTS exam
00:29:22
more specifically the academic version
00:29:25
of IELTS writing task 1 remember all the
00:29:30
information in this video is not only
00:29:32
useful for the IELTS exam but also for
00:29:36
students interested in business English
00:29:37
or more advanced English in general in
00:29:41
the next videos we will look at using
00:29:43
approximate numbers as well as using
00:29:46
prepositions when describing trends if
00:29:50
this is your first time here and what
00:29:52
would English channel you should
00:29:54
subscribe to our channel so you know
00:29:56
when we create new videos to help you
00:29:59
improve your English if you found this
00:30:02
video useful remember to click the like
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button have an awesome day
00:30:22
you
