How to Describe a Line Graph in Four Steps
Updated: 15 hours ago
Level: B2–C1 · 6-minute read
Many academic exams ask you to describe a chart in about 150 words. Most learners know the vocabulary — increase, decrease, peak — but lose marks because their description has no structure. Here is a four-step method that works for any line graph.
Step 1: Paraphrase the title
Say what the graph shows, in your own words. Don't copy the title.
The line graph shows how many people visited three museums in a city between 2015 and 2025.
Step 2: Give the overview
This is the most important sentence, and the one learners most often forget. Describe the main trends — no numbers yet.
Overall, visits to the science museum rose steadily, while the art gallery became less popular. The history museum remained the most visited throughout the period.
Ask yourself: What would I notice in three seconds? That's your overview.
Step 3: Describe the details (two paragraphs)
Group the information logically — by line, or by time period — and now add numbers.
In 2015, the history museum received around 80,000 visitors, compared with 50,000 for the art gallery and 30,000 for the science museum. ...
Useful language:
Movement — Verb — Noun
↑ — rise, grow, climb — a rise, an increase
↓ — fall, drop, decline — a fall, a decrease
— — remain stable, level off — a plateau
↑↓ — fluctuate — fluctuation
highest point — peak at — a peak of
Add precision with adverbs and adjectives: sharply, slightly, gradually, steadily — a sharp rise, a slight fall.
Step 4: Check — don't conclude with opinions
Don't explain why the numbers changed, and don't add your opinion. Re-read for:
the right tense (past for past years, future forms for predictions)
comparisons: higher than, twice as many as, the same as
your word count
The most common mistake
Writing every number in order: "In 2015 it was 30,000, in 2016 it was 32,000, in 2017 ..." That is a list, not a description. Choose the key figures: starting points, end points, peaks and crossings.
Want more?
The Graph Description Kit covers eight chart types — line, bar, pie, table, process, map and more — with a language bank and eight model descriptions. It's part of the Exam Quick-Packs bundle.
Practise this: Graph Description Kit — phrases and model answers for describing charts and graphs.
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