Reading Charts, Tables and Figures

Charts appear in exams, reports and news. Reading them needs two things: the language of change, and a suspicion of the axes.

The language of change

Verbs up: rise · increase · grow · climb · surge · peak Verbs down: fall · drop · decline · decrease · plummet · bottom out No change: remain stable · level off · plateau · hold steady Movement: fluctuate (up and down) · recover · double · halve

The grammar trap: rise and fall take no object; raise and lower need one.

✅ Sales rose. · ✅ They raised prices. ❌ Sales raised.

Describing the size of a change

Adverbs: sharply · steadily · gradually · slightly · dramatically · marginally Adjectives: a sharp rise · a steady decline · a slight increase

Revenue rose sharply in Q1, then levelled off. There was a gradual decline over five years.

Note both patterns: verb + adverb and adjective + noun. Exams reward using both.

Precision language

• approximately / roughly 40%
• just over / just under half
• around a third
• the vast majority (well over half)
• a significant minority

What to check before believing a chart

1. Does the y-axis start at zero? If not, small differences look enormous. This is the most common way an honest number is made to look dramatic.

2. What is the time range? A five-year window can show the opposite trend to a fifty-year one.

3. Are the intervals even? Uneven spacing on the x-axis distorts the shape of the line.

4. Percentage or absolute? "Crime doubled" from 2 cases to 4 is true and almost meaningless.

5. What is the sample? A survey of readers of one newspaper is not a survey of the public.

6. Correlation or causation? Two lines moving together prove nothing about one causing the other.

Describing without over-claiming

✅ The data show a correlation between X and Y. ⚠️ The data prove X causes Y.

Examiners and careful readers both notice this distinction.

Test yourself

The quiz below covers the verbs and the axis traps.