GCAS Strategies 20 Presentations: Trends

In this lesson, we'll work on describing changes over time.

Introduction

Look at the graph below. Tell your teacher about the trends that you see.

Warm Up

This lesson is about describing change over time. What language do you tend to use to do that?

Language

A. Verbs to describe trends

These verbs describe trends.

  1. Up: increase, go up, grow, improve, rise.
  2. Down: decrease, go down, decline, fall, dip (go down a little).
  3. Up a lot: double/triple/etc., jump, rocket, shoot up, soar, surge.
  4. Down a lot: drop, halve, plummet, plunge.
  5. Consistent over time: plateau, stabilize, remain.

Can you think of others?

Pick one verb from each section. Use it to describe January in the graph, above.

B. Adverbs to describe size or speed of changes

Adverbs modify verbs. Use them to describe the size or speed of changes.

Let's start with the size of the change.

  • Big: dramatically, significantly.
  • Medium: moderately, somewhat.
  • Small: marginally, negligibly.

Now, let's look at the speed of the change.

  • Fast: sharply, quickly, rapidly.
  • Slow: slowly, slightly.
  • Consistent over time: gradually, steadily.

Recall the examples you gave in section A. Can you use adverbs in those sentences?

C. Adjectives and nouns to describe change

Adjectives and nouns can also be used to describe change. Verbs can usually be changed to their noun forms (e.g., "to rise" → "a rise"), and adverbs can become adjectives (e.g., "dramatically" → "dramatic"). Adjectives are used to modify nouns.

Adjectives:

  • Bigger/Faster: dramatic, significant, sharp, quick, rapid. 
  • Medium/More slowly: moderate, gradual.
  • Smaller: negligible, slight, slow.
  • Consistent over time: gradual, steady.

Nouns:

  • Up: an increase, a rise, an improvement, a surge, a jump.
  • Down: a decline, a fall, a dip, a plunge.
  • Consistent over time: a plateau, a stabilization.

Note that when you use a noun or adjective, the sentence structure changes. To learn the difference, finish the incomplete sentences with a verb vs. a noun or adjective. (The first example has been completed for you.)

 

Verb/ADVERB  

Adjective/Noun

 
to rise In France, the number of cases rose from February to March.  a rise There was a rise in the number of cases in France.
dramatically In Spain, cases... dramatic In Spain, there was a...
to fluctuate In France... fluctuation There was a lot of...
slightly From January to April, in Germany, cases... slight There was a...
to increase [+ adverb] In France, in March... a/an [adjective] increase In France, in March...
to plateau Cases plateaued... a plateau ...

 

Practice

Look at the graph above again.

You have 2 minutes to describe as many trends as you can. Use the words and phrases from the Language section. Your teacher will time you.

NOTE: The GCAS has time-limited answers. So once you decide what you want to say, it's important to make sure your ideas fit into the time limit.