#advice IELTS Writing Task 1: shows, compares, illustrates | Cambridge IELTS practice |Official™

#advice
IELTS Writing Task 1: shows, compares, illustrates

Many students learn 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.

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.

It is recommended to use 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.

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