Example
illustrate (verb)
The standard formal alternative, suitable for any chart.
The line graph illustrates how the price of coffee changed over twelve months.
Written by Fizza Butool Zaidi and Ali Zaidi
12 alternatives
The standard formal alternative, suitable for any chart.
The line graph illustrates how the price of coffee changed over twelve months.
Neutral; good for tables and data sets.
The table presents data on the average working hours in five countries.
Plain and safe for any visual.
The pie charts give information about how households in one city spent their income.
Shows two or more items side by side.
The bar chart compares the average salaries of five professions in 2020.
Don't swap blindly: Only when more than one item is being compared.
Best for pictures, maps and diagrams.
The two maps depict changes to a village between 1990 and the present day.
Don't swap blindly: Sounds odd with a table of numbers; prefer present.
Gives the main stages; ideal for process diagrams.
The diagram outlines the stages in producing bottled orange juice.
Divides a total into parts; ideal for pie charts.
The pie chart breaks down a university's annual budget by category.
Follows changes over time; good for line graphs.
The graph tracks the number of cinema tickets sold in one city from 2000 to 2020.
Neutral; a little mechanical, so use it once.
The table displays the percentage of homes with internet access in four regions.
Shows something not obvious; good in the overview.
Overall, the figures reveal that rural households spent far more on transport.
Don't swap blindly: Not for the opening sentence, which should restate the task neutrally.
Points to a conclusion; slightly tentative.
The data indicate that car use fell as cycling rose.
Don't swap blindly: A chart indicates or suggests; it does not prove causes.
Attributes a figure to the source, useful in body paragraphs.
According to the table, Canada had the highest rate of home ownership.
Paraphrasing
Band tip: the public IELTS Writing band descriptors for Lexical Resource describe Band 7 as using “less common lexical items” with “some awareness of style and collocation”. A synonym that changes your meaning or breaks a collocation works against you, so choose the word that fits the sentence, not the rarest one you know.
In context
The pie charts break down a university's annual budget in 2005 and 2025. Overall, they reveal that staff salaries remained the largest category, while spending on technology grew more than any other area. According to the charts, salaries accounted for 55% of the budget in both years.
Illustrate, present and give information about suit any chart. Break down suits pie charts, outline suits processes, depict suits maps, and track suits line graphs.
It is understandable, but illustrates, presents and shows are more natural for charts. Describe fits a written text better than a graph.
Only for a clear pattern. Demonstrate suggests proof, and charts usually show what happened, not why. 'Indicates' or 'suggests' is more accurate for causes.
Both are accepted. Formal and scientific writing often treats data as plural ('the data show'); everyday English treats it as singular. Be consistent in one report.
Practise
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