ËaÛj`ů6…Øù¥Ö€ AÞpÚBQäëd05‘œ

 
20 
The language for comparing 
Here are some good phrases for comparing. See if you can adapt them to other task 1 
questions. 
The chart compares... in terms of the number of... 
...is by far the most... OR ...has by far the highest number of... 
the figures for... tend to be fairly similar 
In second place on the chart is...* 
The number of... is slightly higher than... 
Only four other countries have... 
...all with similar proportions of... 
...is the only country with a noticeably higher proportion of... 
Note: 
Only use phrases like "in second place" if the chart shows some kind of competition. 
Don't write "in first / second place" if the chart shows unemployment or health problems. 
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives 
Being able to compare and contrast data is an essential skill for IELTS writing, especially in 
Task 1. Comparatives and superlatives are one common way to do this. 
Comparatives are used to compare two things: 
Leopards are faster than tigers. 
Superlatives are used to compare one thing against a group of others: 
The leopard is the largest of the four big cats. 
Here are the basics of how they are formed: 
 
Example Word 
Comparative 
Superlative 
Words with one syllable 
high 
higher 
the highest 
Words with three syllables 
or more 
productive 
more productive 
less productive 
the most productive
the least productive
Words ending in –y 
wealthy 
wealthier 
the wealthiest 
Short words ending with a 
consonant/vowel/consonant 
hot 
hotter 
the hottest 
Irregular 
good
better
the best