#WRITING Below is Simon's answer to the question I asked ear | IELTS Nerds

#WRITING
Below is Simon's answer to the question I asked earlier.

IELTS Writing Task 1: shows, compares, illustrates

I often meet students who have learnt ten different ways to paraphrase "the graph shows". If you look in a dictionary, you'll find many synonyms for the word "show" (e.g. display, exhibit, parade, depict, convey). But is it a good idea to use these synonyms?

The answer is NO. (as only a third have guessed!)

First, most synonyms of the word "show" are not appropriate for descriptions of a graph or chart. The phrase "the graph exhibits" will look very strange to the examiner. Second, if you learn ten synonyms, you'll probably waste time deciding which one to use.

I tell my students to remember just two synonyms for "shows": compares and illustrates (e.g. the bar chart compares; the diagram illustrates). It won't help your score if you use a strange synonym that you found in a dictionary.

credit: https://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2014/07/ielts-writing-task-1-shows-compares-illustrates.html
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