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.

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:

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

A quick tip: If you’re looking for a better way to boost your English, eJOY Epic is a great app for that with step-by-step courses generated from authentic videos in movies and TV shows. Let’s try it!

Learn English with eJOY Epic now

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

• Cambridge
• Oxford
• Oxford Learners’ Dictionaries

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.

My 4 steps of enhancing IELTS vocabulary

• S1 – Download eJOY Extension on Google Chrome.
• S2 – Select the new words, double click on them or click and drag to look up for your mother tongue and English definitions.
• S3 – Click +Add to save the words with the suitable meaning in your online Wordbook.
• S4 – 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.

Download the extension and use it for free right now to start your own amazing journey!

Don’t forget to leave a comment if you have any problems with learning IELTS vocabulary.

Have a fun time studying!