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being able to use prepositions correctly
is an important part of writing task 1
of the academic version of the IELTS
exam
in this lesson we're going to learn when
to use add-on in by 2 and other
prepositions correctly
let's look at the words increase and
decrease they can be used as a noun or a
verb it is important to know the
difference of whether it is a noun or a
verb because the preposition that comes
after it will be different
for example as nouns increase/decrease
rise and fall normally have the
preposition in after them when we do not
specify a number
look at these examples
there was an increase in the number of
emergency kits sold in 2012
there was a rise in sales after
appearing on television
there has been a decrease in the
consumption of sugar this decade
here I don't specify any amount or
quantity or numbers associated with the
increase or decrease
the moment we include a number or
specify a number we use the preposition
of after the noun increase or decrease
there was an increase of 70% in sales of
emergency kits sold in 2012 we use of
because there is a specific number after
it 70%
in this example you could also change
the order a little there was a 70%
increase in sales of emergency gets sold
in 2012
notice how the percentage number goes
before the noun increase and we now use
the preposition in because there's no
specific number after it
in summary increase as a noun plus in
when we do not specify a number increase
as a noun plus of when we specify and
number two example sentences there has
been an increase in the number of
students here this semester there has
been an increase of 500 students here in
this semester we use in and the first
sentence because we do not specify a
number we use of in the second sentence
because we specify a number in this case
500
so we have seen which prepositions to
use after increase and decrease when
they are nouns but what we use when
they're verbs
when increase and decrease are verbs
they normally have the following
prepositions after them
increase from X the first amount to y
the final amount for example in the
graph we can see that sales increased
from 100 to 130 units from is with the
start point of a trend to is with the
end point of a trend
what is the difference between 100 and
130
it is 30
show this difference we can use the
preposition by
increase or decrease etc plus by plus
the amount of change so we can say sales
increased by 30 units by equals the
amount of change between two different
periods of time or values
when we use a percentage instead of
another number the preposition by is
optional for example sales increased by
30% or sales increased 30% both are
correct so buy is optional when we
include a percentage
let's look at the following sentences it
declined by 5% it declined to 5% we have
a different preposition in each sentence
and they both change the meaning of it
significantly let's see how
what is the difference between these two
prepositions if the starting point is
100%
declined by 5% means it only drops a
small amount from 100 percent to 95
percent by is used to show the
difference between the two numbers the
difference between one hundred and
ninety five is five
it declined to 5% means it fell from
100% all the way down to 5% which is a
huge drop we use to because we're
talking about the end point in this case
the end point is 5%
it declined to 5% is a short way of
saying it declined from 100 percent to 5
percent sometimes we don't use the from
part as that number has already been
mentioned in a previous part and we just
use the preposition to to mention the
end point
when we talk about specific months or
years we use the preposition in in plus
month in plus year in the first second
etc quarter a quarter is a period of
three months of the year example
sentences 500 units were sold in
December December's a month so we use in
the number of accidents doubled in 2017
profits increased in the second quarter
we use between x and y when we want to
show a range of time which means it has
a start time and an end time our example
prices rose sharply between 1973 and
1980
we can use since when we have a starting
point and the trend continues until now
until today since is mostly used with
the perfect tense property prices in
Auckland have increased significantly
since 2011 we use since because the
prices continue to increase until today
see our video about the difference
between four and sins for more
information
after ver
start and end we mostly use the
preposition at before a number to start
at to begin at to end at or finish at
some example sentences initial prices
started at three hundred dollars per
unit
production began at 70 units per day in
March
production ended at 90 units per day in
August
we can also use the preposition at with
the verb to peek crime peaked at 200
incidents per night in April
when the trend remains constant or
steady we can also use the preposition
act over the last decade the population
of the town has remained steady at
around 10,000 inhabitants
notice how in the first pad we say over
the last decade we use over and during
with a period of time sales increased
over the next three months is the same
as sales increased during the next three
months
let's look at this simple graph to apply
many of the prepositions we have talked
about
what is the direction of this trend it
goes down so to describe this trend we
could use a word like decrease or draw
up or decline for now we will say it
decreased it could be sales decreased
production decreased it could be many
things at the moment I'm interested in
the prepositions that come next what is
the starting point
ten units what is the endpoint four
units so we could say it decreased from
10 to 4 units from is used with a
starting point in this case 10 to is
used with the end point in this case for
it decreased from 10 to 4 units
now what is the difference between ten
and four it is a difference of six so we
could say there was a drop or decrease
or decline all six units there was a
drop of six units we use of after a noun
in this case the noun drop
how about if we use the verb form of
drop we would say it dropped by six
units
notice how we use of after the noun form
of drop and by after the verb form of
drop when showing the change or
difference between two numbers there was
a drop of six units it dropped by six
units
but if we do not include a specific
number we use the preposition in after
the noun there was a decrease in the
number of X or there was a drop in the
number of X here we haven't specified a
number we don't know if it is 6 or 6
million we just know there was a drop or
a decline
now compare the two together it was a
drop all six units there was a drop in
the number of
the preposition changes because the
first sentence has a specific number
while the second sentence doesn't give
us a specific number so we just say the
number of plus specific number in plus
the number of and then sales units or
whatever
if we look at the chart what is the time
period that the decrease happens the
decrease happens from one date to
another date those two dates or years
are 2010 and 2014 even though those
numbers don't appear written on the
graph we can see the time and DeVault on
the bottom axis are divided into two
year periods for time periods that
include two dates we can say between
2010 and 2014
we could also use from 2010 to 2014 but
we cannot mix the prepositions and say
between 2010 to 2014 no this is not
correct
let's look at another simple graph when
does this graph start it starts in 2004
we use in the cruise we're talking about
something that happened in a specific
year in 2004
and what happened then something started
let's imagine it's talking about sales
of computer units how many units were
sold in 2004
four units were sold so what preposition
is used as a part of this simple
description
at four units in 2004 we use Star Plus
ad plus the number
then what happened
sales increased
they increased to its highest point this
highest point is called a peak peak can
be a noun or a verb let's use the verb
it peaked at 10 units we use the
preposition at after the verb peak
we could also add the time the peak
happened in 2006 of course if we say it
started at four units in 2004 it peaked
at ten units in 2006 this sounds
repetitive we're just doing these simple
descriptions to learn the correct
prepositions
just so you know instead of saying it
peaked at 10 units in 2006 we could say
it peaked at 10 units two years later
that shows the examiner you can vary
your vocabulary
then what happened after it peaked
we can see that sales went down sales
dropped how much did it drop it dropped
by eight units why do we use buy in this
case because it is the difference
between the starting point 10 units and
the end point 2 units the difference
between 10 and 2 is 8 so 8 units to show
this difference we use the preposition
by it dropped by 8 units
we could also say it dropped to two
units though saying to two together
sounds strange
the sales of only two units that year
was the lowest amount that was sold
which makes it its lowest point sales
dropped to its lowest point so bringing
it all together we say it dropped by
eight units to its lowest point if we
want to add the number that is at its
lowest point which is a good thing to do
in order to give a more complete
response then we use the preposition ad
after lowest point in this case it
dropped to its lowest point and two
units
you see we also added in plus the year
to state when this lowest point happened
in 2008 so the complete sentence is it
dropped by 8 units to its lowest point
at 2 units in 2008
then what happened we can see the trend
going up sales increased again this time
to six units it increased to six units
sold in 2010
we use the preposition to after the verb
increase when referring to increasing to
a number
then we can see it didn't make a change
up or down that remained stable or
constant what is the time period that it
remains stable
we have 2010 and 2012 we can say sales
remain stable between 2010 and 2012 see
how we use the prepositions between x
and y another alternative is to use the
prepositions from x to y sales remain
stable from 2010 to 2012
just remember we cannot mix those
prepositions between as always with in
from is always worth to so where does
the graph finish
it finishes at six units in 2012 we used
at with the verbs finish and n just like
start ed you finish at it finished at 6
units sold in 2012
this was a simple overview of common
prepositions you'll be using and writing
tasks one of the academic version of the
IELTS exam
I recommend seeing our other videos
about the difference between the
prepositions of time add-on in also our
video lesson about four verses since
you'll find that useful to remember to
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you
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About this lesson
Learn how to use prepositions correctly when describing graphs and charts in IELTS Writing Task 1.