Best Practices: Describing Trends, Graphs, And Changes

In business and everyday English, you sometimes have to describe changes in trends (movement or tendency), graphs, and diagrams.

In the business context, you may have to describe trends in reports, meetings, and presentations. In everyday life, you could describe changes in any subject because things change all the time!

Describing changes and trends generally consists of three parts:

• Use a verb (or an adjective and a noun) to describe movement
• Describe the speed or size of the movement
• Explain the reason or consequence of the change

You can also view it this way: Verb + Speed or Size + Result/Reason/Consequence

Example 

In 2011, Samsung's profits increased considerably thanks to its successful Galaxy S series.

Part 1

Here are some verbs you can use to describe change and movement.

Upward  Movement

To climb

To rise

To go up

To improve

To pick up

To recover

To increase

To reach a peak

Downward Movement

To fall

To decline

To bottom out

To decrease

To drop

To plummet

To deteriorate

To hit a low

To slip back

To go down

Horizontal Movement

To even out

To remain stable

To stabilize

Part 2

Here are some adjectives and adverbs you can use to describe the speed and size of change.

Speed of Change

Rapid - Rapidly

Slow - Slowly

Sudden - Suddenly

Sharp - Sharply

Steady - Steadily

Gradual - Gradually

Fast - Quickly

Size of Change

Noticeable - Noticeably

Substantial - Substantially

Considerable - Considerably

Slight - Slightly

Significant - Significantly 

Dramatic - Dramatically

Negligible - Negligibly

Part 3

Here are some expressions you can use to express reason, consequence, and result:

• As a result of
• Due to
• Because of
• Was the reason for
• Caused
• Resulted in
• Explains
• Accounts for
• That is why
• Consequently
• So
• Thanks to

Time Expressions You Can Use

• In January / In 2011
• In Q1 / Q2 / Q3 / Q4 (In the first quarter / second quarter / third quarter / fourth quarter)
• From January to March

Examples

• Apple's sales increased significantly due to the launch of the iPhone 4.
  [verb + adverb construction]
  
  There was a significant increase in Apple's sales due to the launch of the iPhone 4.
  [adjective + noun (word) construction]

• Our turnover remained stable in January and February. However, in March and April, it dropped suddenly as a result of the financial crisis.
  [verb + adverb construction]
  
  In March and April, there was a sudden drop in our turnover as a result of the financial crisis.
  [adjective + noun (word) construction]

The following video shows how to describe trends in a meeting and presentation context. Listen to the language and vocabulary the people use in the video.