The 100 most useful phrases for IELTS Writing flowchart tasks

This is a short list of vital phrases to memorise in order to do well with IELTS Academic Writing Part 1 flowchart tasks. A bigger list of useful phrases and over 300 pages of materials to give input on, practice and give feedback on all kinds of IELTS Academic Writing tasks are available at https://www.usingenglish.com/e-books/ielts-writing/

 

The most useful phrases for IELTS Writing Task One flowchart task introductions

First sentence of the introduction/ Rephrasing the question/ Brief description of the flowchart

1. The chart (given) gives information on the way that…
2. The flowchart (given) includes information on the method by which…
3. The chart (given) shows the process for…
4. The flowchart (given) illustrates the steps necessary to...
5. The diagram (at the top) represents the process by which…
6. The illustration (at the bottom) explains how to…
7. The (left-hand/ right-hand) illustration presents information on how … is…

(Optional) summary sentence/ description of the component parts/ what you notice straightaway

8. There are… steps (in total) from the start to the end of the process.
9. The… steps are divided into two parts, from… to…, and from… until…
10. The… stages can be split into two parts, the section starting from…, and the other beginning from…
11. The process goes from… to… (in … steps/ stages).
12. The system consists of (both)…
13. The procedure is made up of… parts.
14. The first … steps of the process…, whereas the rest of the procedure…
15. The whole process includes both … and …

Sentence describing the structure of/ organisation of/ plan for (the body of) your essay

16. I will describe the first … stages, and then turn my attention to the following (…) steps.
17. I will explain the first half of the procedure, then move on to the latter part.
18. I will explain those two parts of the process in that order (in the paragraphs below).
19. I will describe those two parts of the procedure in turn (in the paragraphs below).
20. I will look at the chart on the left and then describe the one on the right.
21. I will write about the flowchart at the top and after that do the same for the one underneath.

 

The most useful phrases for the body of IELTS Writing Task 1 flowchart essays

The most useful phrases for describing the first step

22. At the beginning of the process,…/ At the start of the process,…/ The first part of the procedure is…
23. The first stage shown on the flowchart is…/ The initial part of the process is…
24. The cycle begins with…/ The process starts with…/ The system gets underway with…

 The following steps

25. After that (stage)/ Following that, the process moves onto…
26. After completing that/ (After) having finished that, the process progresses to…
27. When that (part of the process) is completed/ After that is completed/ Once that is completed, the next step is…
28. After that,…/ Next,…/ The following stage is…
29. This is followed by…/ This leads to…

 The final stage

30. The final step is…/ The last stage is…
31. The process comes to a close with…/ The procedure concludes with…/ The system ends with…
32. …brings the process to a close/ ends the procedure.

Things happening at the same time/ Alternatives/ When the flow chart splits

33. There are then two ways of…,…/ Some… while others…/ Then… either… or…
34. Alternatively,…/ The other possibility is…

Further explanation

35. During this stage,…
36. This stage consists of…/ This part of the process includes…
37. namely,…/ To be precise,…
38. This means (that)…/ That is to say…/ In other words,…/ To explain that further,…/ i.e….

Going back in time

38. This follows…/ Before that,…/ Prior to this,…

Starting the second body paragraph

39. Turning our attention to the remaining five steps,…
40. Moving on to second half of the process,…
41. Turning to the rest of the procedure,…
42. Looking at the parts of the process which…,…
43. The other flowchart/ The second chart/ The lower diagram…
44. After… is completed, the second half of the process starts with…
45. The remainder of the process starts with…
46. As for the other flowchart,…

The most useful verbs for describing processes

with other forms of words in brackets ()

47. add (addition additional)
48. arrange (arrangement)/ classify (classification)/ organise (organisation)/ put into order/ sort
49. assemble (disassemble assembly disassembly)/ build (built built)/ put (put put) together
50. assess (assessment)/ evaluate (evaluation)/ judge (judgement)
51. attach (attachment)/ connect (connection disconnect disconnection)
52. begin (began begun)/ start/ undertake (undertook undertaken)
53. bend (bent bent)/ flex (flexible flexibility inflexible inflexibility)
54. bring (brought brought) together/ gather
55. broadcast/ transmit (transmit retransmit transmission retransmission)
56. check/ verify (verification)
57. choose (chose chosen choice)/ select (selection)
58. coat (coating)/ cover/ wrap (wrapping)
59. construct (construction)/ create (creation)/ make (made made)/ produce (production reproduce reproduction)
60. contributes (contribution) to
61. cool (coolant)
62. dig (dug dug) (up)/ excavate (excavation)
63. distribute (distribution)/ disseminate (dissemination)
64. divide (division)/ share/ split (split split)
65. expand (expansion)/ grow (grew grown)/ spread (spread spread)
66. fasten (unfasten)
67. fill (full refill)
68. flat (flatten)
69. forecast (forecast forecast)/ predict (prediction)
70. grind (ground ground)
71. happens/ occurs (occurrence)
72. heat (hot)
73. hold (held held) (in place)/ keep (kept kept)/ store
74. insert/ slot into
75. lengthen/ stretch
76. let (let let) go/ release
77. lift/ raise
78. lower
79. melt
80. mix/ put (put put) together
81. moisten (moisture)
82. operate (operation)
83. pack (package unpack)
84. place/ put (put put)
85. prepare (preparation)/ set (set set) up
86. prevent (prevention)
87. pull
88. pump
89. push/ press/ squeeze
90. receive (reception)
91. release
92. remove (removal)/ strip
93. replace (replacement)
94. reveal/ show
95. rise (rose risen)
96. roll/ rotate (rotation)/ screw/ turn/ twist
97. separate (separation)
98. take (took taken) (apart/ away/ off/ out)
99. use (reuse)/ utilise (utilisation)
100. wind (wound/ wound)