GK III - SoSe 2010

Trends, graphs and figures

A Graphs and figures
Here are some common types of graph:

A B C
32 76 21
65 12 30
43 9 12

Line graph bar chart pie chart table

Numbers can be written as symbols (10) or words (ten). In formal writing, use symbols for large amounts
and words for everything else (ordinals like second, two numbers together, estimates, etc).
Note the following ways to say numbers:
Currencies:
$6.50 six dollars fifty £6.15 six pounds fifteen
Decimals:
Note that a decimal point is written as a 'dot', not a comma like in some languages.
6.5 six point five
0.25 nought/zero point two five (NOT point twenty five?)
Large numbers:
A comma can be used to separate thousands from hundreds. Notice the use of 'and' in British English.
6,200 six thousand two hundred (in BrE and AmE)
6,280 six thousand two hundred and eighty (in BrE, but AmE has no 'and' here)
2m two million (NOT millions)
2.5m two point five/two and a half million
B Trends
Note also: to double, to triple, to halve.
Note these irregular verb forms:
go - went – gone grow - grew - grown rise - rose - risen fall - fell - fallen
Note these nouns:
a rise, growth, an improvement, a fall, a drop, a peak, a recovery, a half, a doubling
Manufacturing industry orders in January rose 11.1% from the same period a year earlier, compared
with forecasts of an 11.2% rise. (Wall Street Journal website)

Note the following prepositions:

Sales increased from $5.4m to $5.8m. (start and finish figures).
Sales increased by $0.4m.(difference between start and finish figures)
There was an increase in sales of $0.4m. (after a noun or noun phrase)
There was a 3% increase in sales.(before the thing that is changing)
The share of U.S. capital spending devoted to information technology has more than tripled since 1960, from
10% to 35%. Fields such as biotechnology are booming. (Business Week website)

C: Verbs and objects

It is important to use verbs in the right way. Study these three groups.
Transitive verbs are always followed by an object:
We'll raise/lower/cut/maintain his salary, (with an object)
(BUT NOT His ojlary will raioo/lowor/cut/maintain.)
Intransitive verbs are never followed by an object:
Inflation will rise/fall/grow/go up. (without an object)
(BUT NOT The government's policies will riso/foll/grow/go up inflation.)
Transitive/Intransitive verbs can be used with or without an object:
We'll increase/decrease/improve/recover our market share. (with an object)
AND Our market share will increase/decrease/improve/recover. (without an object)

D Adverbs and adjectives

We can use adverbs and adjectives to give more details about verbs and nouns.
Speed of change
Quickly/quick rapid change
Gradually/gradual constant, regular change
Steadily/steady slow, step-by-step change

Amount of change
Significantly/significant large change
Sharply/sharp sudden change
Slightly/slight small change
Sales grew steadily. There was a steady growth in sales.
So far, 6.25 billion USD has poured into Romania over the last decade, with last year's figures showing
a slight increase on 1998, according to latest Trade Registry data. (Bucharest Business Week website)

E Linking words and phrases

Linking words are useful for describing trends. They can join parts of a sentence or link across
sentences. Here are just a few examples:
Addition and, in addition
Contrast but, although (+ subject + verb), in spite of(+ noun phrase), however
Reason because (+ subject + verb), because of/due to (+ noun phrase)
Result so, therefore