This is a very short tip on using the future in IELTS Writing Task 1. Let’s look at an example chart.
This is a typical example of a graph that starts in the past, but ends in the future. This is a bit more tricky than a graph in which all the information is in the past, because you need to change your grammar depending on the section. However, it’s a good opportunity to increase your mark for Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Here’s what we can add in:
So, we start with our typical “The graph shows…” section. Something like:
The graph shows financial data, separated in to revenue, charges, borrowings and grants and subsidies, as a monetary figure in millions of dollars.
So, we have explained the Y axis. we now need to explain the X axis, specifically, that it starts in the past and finishes in the future.
This information runs from 2012 to the present day, and includes a projection for 2016 to 2022.
The word “projection” is a financial word meaning “prediction”. We could also use “estimation”.
So, we could separate our paragraphs in to 1) Past until now and 2) Now in to the future. That would help us divide up the grammar to keep it simple – past in body paragraph 1 and future in body paragraph 2. What are our choices?
We can use “will” + infinitive as a simple option. Here’s an example:
From 2016 until 2022, the rates revenue figure will consistently increase from about 1600 million to just under 2500 million.
Fine, but a bit simple, so we can’t use it for the whole paragraph.
2. Is + past participle + to + infinitive
There are a few different participles we could use: estimated, predicted, expected, projected. Example:
After 2015, the rates revenue figure is expected to continue its growth, from about 1600 million to just under 2500 million at the end of the period.
Very nice because it’s simple, you can use the same structure but just change the past participle each time, and it includes a passive.
3. Future perfect (will + have + past participle)
Possibly the highest level way to express the future in IELTS. We need to look at the very end of the graph, so that we imagine that the increase / decrease has already happened. This is exactly what we do for present / past perfect as well. We can do this by using “by”. Look at the example:
The rates revenue figure started increasing in 2014, and, by 2022, it will have reached a peak of just under 2500 million.
An excellent piece of grammar to include – just remember to use “by + end of graph / end of increase or decrease” and then talk about the change that will have happened at that point in the future.
As always, if you have any questions, please contact me!