Lesson 3 · Lesson guide
Present Perfect for Trends and Changes
Hello, my dear student!
Hello again! In Lesson 2 you learned the two present perfect forms. Today we use them for one of the most important jobs in Academic IELTS: describing changes.
Charts, graphs and tables in Writing Task 1 are all about change: what has gone up, what has gone down, and how fast. Reading passages and Task 2 essays talk about trends too: “More students have started to study online.”
By the end of this lesson you will describe a trend with the right verb, the right adverb and the right tense.
See you in the exercises,Your teacher
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The language of change
A trend has three parts: the direction (up or down), the size (a lot or a little) and the time.
Direction
Up and down
Up: rise, increase, grow, go up. Down: fall, decrease, decline, drop, go down. No change: remain stable, stay the same.
- The number of students has increased.
- The dropout rate has fallen.
- The price has remained stable.
Size
Big or small: adverbs
Big: sharply, dramatically, significantly. Small: slightly, a little. Even: steadily, gradually.
- Fees have risen sharply.
- The figure has fallen slightly.
- Numbers have grown steadily.
Variety
Verb or noun: rose sharply → a sharp rise
Examiners reward variety. Change “has risen sharply” to “there has been a sharp rise in…”.
- There has been a sharp rise in tuition fees.
- There has been a slight fall in the number of applicants.
Multiply
Double, triple, halve
×2 = double, ×3 = triple, ÷2 = halve. They save words and sound precise.
- The number of online students has doubled.
- The cost has almost tripled since 2010.
Remember!
Up to now → present perfect (has risen since 2015). A finished time → past simple (rose in 2015).
Time phrases for trends
since 2015
up to now → present perfect
over the past ten years
up to now → present perfect
in recent years
up to now → present perfect
between 2010 and 2015
finished → past simple
in 2018
finished → past simple
Common mistakes in Task 1
Not: The number of students has risen in 2018.Say: The number of students rose in 2018.
In 2018 is a finished time → past simple.
Not: Fees have increased sharp.Say: Fees have increased sharply.
After a verb → an adverb (sharply). Before a noun → an adjective (a sharp increase).
Not: The number of students has raised.Say: The number of students has risen.
Rise (rose, risen) has no object. Raise needs an object: The university has raised its fees.
Check yourself
From 200 to 400: which verb?
Make a noun phrase: Prices have fallen slightly.
“Since 2015” or “in 2015”: which one needs the present perfect?
Now it’s your turn!
8 short parts, each a little harder than the one before. Take your time: mistakes are how we learn.
— Your teacher