IELTS & PTE lesson · Vocabulary

IELTS & PTE Comparing and Proportion Vocabulary notesSay the size: shares and gaps

From about a third to twice as many. This IELTS & PTE lesson is a deck of 9 visual cards from BandLadder's own study library, written and fact-checked by our team.
  • 9 cards
  • Free to read online
  • PDF with any plan
  • Updated 30 September 2026

Original BandLadder material

What's inside

Along the way you get worked examples with the key words marked, before-and-after fixes that show why the first version loses marks, a one-page visual summary, word cards with meanings and examples (just under, just over, roughly and well over), a quick check to test yourself and a recap of the rules to remember. Each card holds one idea, so you can read it on a phone between practice sessions.

Reading it online is free: create a free BandLadder account and the whole lesson opens in our study reader, on the web and in the app. Downloading the PDF to keep needs a plan; the free reader has every card.

The first 3 of 9 cards

Preview

  1. IELTS · PTEVocabulary · Comparing and proportion

    A percentage is not a number

    and 'twice more' is not standard

    Two small slips can spoil a correct reading. Watch the noun before a percentage, and watch 'twice'.

    The number of cyclists is 40%a number can't be 40%. There are twice more cyclists than walkerstwice as many as.

    The fixes: the percentage of, and twice as many as.

    © 2026 BandLadder · original material1 / 9
  2. IELTS · PTEVocabulary · Comparing and proportion

    From percent to phrase

    round the share, then pick the words

    ShareSay it
    4%a tiny minority
    24%just under a quarter
    33%about a third
    49%nearly half
    58%the majority · more than half
    76%roughly three quarters
    96%almost all · the vast majority

    A majority is more than half. Anything under half is a minority, however big.

    © 2026 BandLadder · original material2 / 9
  3. IELTS · PTEVocabulary · Comparing and proportion

    Small words that keep it honest

    they sit in front of the fraction

    • just undera little below

      Just under a quarter of staff cycle to work.

    • just overa little above

      Just over a third of visitors came by train.

    • roughlyclose to, not exact

      Roughly a fifth of the flats stood empty.

    • well overclearly more than

      Well over half of the staff work part-time.

    © 2026 BandLadder · original material3 / 9
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9 cards

Contents

  1. 1A percentage is not a numberand 'twice more' is not standardIn the preview
  2. 2From percent to phraseround the share, then pick the wordsIn the preview
  3. 3Small words that keep it honestthey sit in front of the fractionIn the preview
  4. 4Set one share against anotherthe phrases that compareFree account
  5. 5In a Task 1 paragraphIELTS Band 7 looks for main differencesFree account
  6. 6Now say it out loudPTE: Content, Fluency, PronunciationFree account
  7. 7Two wording trapsthe size word, and the comparisonFree account
  8. 8Your turnpick the words that fit the figuresFree account
  9. 9Save thisthe shares-and-comparisons checklistFree account

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The BandLadder team wrote and checked it. It is original BandLadder material, not copied from books or other websites, and its exam facts are checked against the official IELTS and PTE pages.

Is it for IELTS or PTE?+

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© 2026 BandLadder. Written and checked by the BandLadder team. You may quote or cite this page with credit to BandLadder and a link to it; republishing it in full needs our written permission. Content use policy

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