Tenses for describing data and trends
Choose past simple, present simple, present perfect or future forms correctly when describing charts, tables and projections in Writing Task 1.
- Marking criterion
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy
- Where it pays off
- Writing Task 1 Academic · Writing Task 2 · Speaking Part 3
Task 1 tense errors are among the easiest marks to recover because the rule is mechanical: the tense follows the dates on the chart, not your instinct. A chart covering 1990 to 2010 is finished, so it is past simple throughout. A chart with no dates describes a general situation, so it is present simple. A chart projecting to 2040 needs a future form for the projected part only.
Match the tense to the time frame on the axis
Read the chart title and the axis labels before writing a single sentence. They tell you which tense the whole response should sit in.
- Completed past period, such as 1995 to 2015: past simple. 'Car ownership rose steadily between 1995 and 2015.'
- No dates at all, or a general situation: present simple. 'The majority of respondents prefer to shop online.'
- A period running up to now: present perfect. 'Since 2010, enrolment has fallen by a third.'
- Dates in the future: will, be expected to, be projected to. 'Demand is projected to double by 2040.'
- A mixed chart with past data and a forecast: switch tense at the switch point and signal it with a time phrase.
- A point reached by a deadline: 'by' pulls the perfect. 'By 1990, the figure had doubled.' 'By 2040, the figure will have doubled.'
- Two trends running at once: past continuous for the background one. 'While rail use was climbing, bus use fell steadily.'
Keep the tense stable inside a paragraph
The most visible error is drifting between past and present within the same description. Once you have chosen the frame, only change it when the data changes.
- Do not use the present simple for a completed year: 'In 2004, the figure is 30%' is wrong.
- Do not use the present perfect with a finished time expression: 'has risen in 2004' is wrong; use 'rose in 2004'.
- The past continuous is rarely useful in Task 1. Past simple carries almost all trend description.
Tenses beyond Task 1
In Task 2 and Speaking Part 3, the present simple carries general truths, the present perfect connects the past to the present situation, and conditionals carry speculation.
- General truth: 'Urbanisation increases pressure on public transport.'
- Recent development: 'Remote work has changed how cities are used.'
- Speculation: 'If governments invested more in rail, congestion would fall.'
Corrected examples
Incorrect: The graph shows that the population increases sharply in 1980.
Correct: The graph shows that the population increased sharply in 1980.
1980 is a finished year, so the verb describing the data must be past simple.
Incorrect: Since 2015 the figure fell by 12%.
Correct: Since 2015 the figure has fallen by 12%.
'Since' links the past to now, which requires the present perfect.
Incorrect: By 2050 the number of users reaches nine million.
Correct: By 2050 the number of users is expected to reach nine million.
Projected figures need a future form. Marking them as fact overstates the chart.
Quick checklist
- Check the axis dates before writing the first sentence.
- One time frame per paragraph unless the data changes.
- Use 'is projected to' or 'is expected to' for forecasts, never the present simple.
- Never combine the present perfect with a finished year.
Apply it to a real response and check the length and structure.
Open the writing checklist