IELTS Writing Task 1 gives you a chart or a diagram. Then, it asks you to write an essay with at least 150 words to describe the given chart. That’s why we need to add more words related to figures and trends to our vocabulary. Do you know that there can be a lot of adverbs describing degree of change?
In this article, we will give you full information about such words. This will help you know more different words you can use in your writings. That can bring you closer to achieving lexical resource points – which accounts for 25% of total points. At the end of the article, we will share some tips that can help you remember these words. With those tips, you don’t have to worry about forgetting vocabulary due to exam stress.
1. What makes eJOY’s list of adverbs describing the degree of change different
Instead of giving you a list of words with their meanings, we’ve been working hard to put in other necessary information. We also give you some examples of how you can use these words. Putting these words and phrases in certain context will help you recognize the differences between them. As a result, you will remember them more easily. This table includes:
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Pronunciation
If you know how to write words, but don’t know how to pronounce them you will still easily forget those words, and won’t be able to use them in formal presentations or even in daily conversations. That would definitely be a waste.
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English definition
When we learn new English words, we tend to look up for only the meaning in our mother tongue. That habit is bad for the language learning process, as you can only learn English with your first language mindset. That would be a major block to making your lexicon broader and knowing how to use words.
It’s important to remember that Vietnamese and English are two different languages coming from different cultures. It can be hard to fully understand the meaning of a word and use them fluently. To be able to do that, you should learn both English definition and your mother tongue meaning.
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Corresponding adjectives
Here we included a column of adjectives that correspond to the adverbs describing rate of change. Knowing them, you can change sentence structures more flexibly. That will prevent your essay from being boring.
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Examples
The final column of the table includes examples of how to use these words. This part helps you use the words correctly and naturally like native speakers. So don’t miss this important section.
2. Adverbs describing degree of change
| Degree of
change |
No. | Adverbs | Pronunciation | English definition | Corresponding adjectives | Examples |
| Very extensive change | 1 | sharply | UK /ˈʃɑːp.li/
US /ˈʃɑːrp.li/ |
in a way that is sudden and very noticeable | sharp | rise/fall sharply
1) Inflation has risen sharply. 2) Dealer sales fell sharply in August. |
| 2 | dramatically | UK /drəˈmæt.ɪ.kəl.i/ US /drəˈmæt̬.ɪ.kəl.i/ | suddenly or obviously | dramatic | The economic power of many Asian countries has grown dramatically in recent years. | |
| 3 | enormously | UK /ɪˈnɔː.məs.li/ US /əˈnɔːr.məs.li/ | extremely or very much | enormous | The currency had been enormously inflated: the paper dollar was worth only 34 cents; gold was at $280/ounce. | |
| 4 | tremendously | UK /trəˈmendəsli/
US /trəˈmendəsli/ |
extremely; very much | tremendous | a tremendously expensive house | |
| 5 | steeply | UK /ˈstiːp.li/
US /ˈstiːp.li/ |
suddenly and by a large amount | steep | rise/climb/increase steeply Companies are cutting back at a time when costs are rising steeply. |
|
| 6 | strikingly | UK /ˈstraɪ.kɪŋ.li/
US /ˈstraɪ.kɪŋ.li/ |
in a way that attracts attention by reason of being unusual, extreme, or prominent. | striking | ‘the stories strikingly illustrate the creative power of the imagination’ | |
| Extensive change | 7 | remarkably | UK /rɪˈmɑː.kə.bli/
US /rɪˈmɑːr.kə.bli/ |
used for emphasizing how surprising or unusual something is | remarkable | It is a remarkably noisy and crowded city. |
| 8 | considerably | UK /kənˈsɪd.ər.ə.bəli/
US /kənˈsɪd.ɚ.ə.bəli/ |
by a notably large amount or to a notably large extent; greatly. | considerable | ‘things have improved considerably over the last few years’ | |
| 9 | significantly | UK /sɪɡˈnɪf.ɪ.kənt.li/
US /sɪɡˈnɪf.ə.kənt.li/ |
in a way that is easy to see or by a large amount | significant | Employment levels are unlikely to rise significantly before the end of next year. | |
| 10 | substantially | UK /səbˈstæn.ʃəl.i/
US /səbˈstæn.ʃəl.i/ |
to a large degree | substantial | House prices have risen substantially over the last six months. | |
| 11 | relatively | UK /ˈrel.ə.tɪv.li/ US /ˈrel.ə.t̬ɪv.li/ | Regarded in comparison with something else rather than absolutely; quite | relative | ‘the site was cheap and relatively clean’ | |
| Average change | 12 | noticeably | UK /ˈnəʊ.tɪ.sə.bəli/
US /ˈnoʊ.t̬ɪ.sə.bəli/ |
in a way that is easy to see or notice; clearly or definitely | noticeable | Her hand was shaking noticeably. |
| 13 | markedly | UK /ˈmɑːkɪdli/
US /ˈmɑːrkɪdli/ |
in a way that is easy to notice | marked | This year’s sales have risen markedly. | |
| 14 | moderately | UK /ˈmɒdərətli/
US /ˈmɑːdərətli/ |
to an average extent; fairly but not very | moderate | a moderately successful career/ She only did moderately well in the exam. | |
| Small change | 15 | slightly | UK /ˈslaɪtli/
US /ˈslaɪtli/ |
a little | slight | The pound rose slightly against the dollar today, then settled at $1.53. |
| 16 | partly | UK /ˈpɑːt.li/
US /ˈpɑːrt.li/ |
to some degree, but not completely | partial | The hot weather is partly to blame for the water shortage. | |
| 17 | hardly | UK /ˈhɑːd.li/
US /ˈhɑːrd.li/ |
only just; almost not: | Hardly a day passes that I don’t think about it. | ||
| 18 | minimally | UK /ˈmɪnɪməli/
US /ˈmɪn·ə·mə·li/ |
to a small degree | minimal | We specialize in organic and minimally processed foods. | |
| 19 | barely | UK /ˈbeə.li/
US /ˈber.li/ |
just; certainly not more than (a particular amount, age, time, etc.) | Barely 50% of the population voted. | ||
| 20 | scarcely | UK /ˈskeəsli/
US /ˈskersli/ |
only just; almost not | I was scarcely able to move my arm after the accident. | ||
| 21 | marginally | UK /ˈmɑː.dʒɪ.nəl.i/ US /ˈmɑːr.dʒɪ.nəl.i/ | slightly | marginal | marginally more expensive |
References
3. How can you remember these adverbs?
To master adverbs describing degree of change, you need to:
- Write them down in your notebook
- Practice constructing sentences with those adverbs
- Repeat the word learning process until you can use them fluently
However, this process might not be simple for some of you. Being too busy with work and have too little time might be the main reasons. Or maybe, you get discouraged by the boring and seemingly never-ending note taking process.
Let me share with you a very useful tip. With technology developments these days, you are just one click away from all of these steps.
4. My 4 steps of enhancing IELTS vocabulary
- Step 1 – Download eJOY Extension on Google Chrome.
- Step 2 – Select the new words, double click on them or click and drag to look up for your mother tongue and English definitions.
- Step 3 – Click +Add to save the words with the suitable meaning in your online Wordbook.
- Step 4 – Play games with those words regularly.
The special thing is, you don’t need to worry about when you should come back to the words. The eJOY extension already helps us do that thanks to the improved spaced repetition algorithm. When you’ve done studying some words, as you move on, the previously learned ones will soon be forgotten. The solution to that problem is simple. Just when you’re about to forget some of the words you learned, eJOY will remind you to come back to them every day.
Not only that, our development team also links eJOY extension to Youtube videos that contain the words you’re learning. That way, you can practice using such words within the context that the natives usually use.
If you’d like to learn more vocabulary about other topics, then visit eJOY GO and get access to the 3000 Smart Word list.
Install eJOY Extension FREEeJOY Extension is an excellent tool to learn English on a desktop. With just one click, you can watch your favorite TV shows, movies, or videos with dual subtitles, translate, and look up any word right on the captions.
Happy learning and don’t forget to learn English vocabulary with eJOY Extension!
