A diagram is a graphic depiction of information, data and facts. Complex structures are thus summarized and, ideally, made more understandable by means of an illustration.
Chart English—Types
There are many different types of charts, but here are the most important ones:
- Pie chart, also called pie chart
- Line graph, also called line graph
- bar chart
- column chart
Pie chart
Figure 1: Pie chart
Pie charts can be used to show percentages of a whole. They represent specific data as part of 100 or a whole. Each slice (the dark part in our illustration, for example) corresponds to a specific part of the whole. Unlike bar and line charts, pie charts don’t show changes over time, they represent the percentages at a given point in time.
Line Chart / Line Graph
Figure 2: Line chart
Line charts can be used to show how specific data is changing over time. This type of diagram is particularly suitable for depicting several data series, which can be compared and contrasted very well in a line graph.
Bar Chart and Column Chart / Bar Chart and Column Chart
Figure 3: Bar chart
Figure 4: Column chart
A column or bar chart can be used to show how something has changed over time or to compare different times. Column and bar charts are good for showing data that spans many years (or days, weeks…) that varies greatly from year to year (or day to day…), or they can be used to compare different items in a related category (e.g. to compare between different states). The difference between the column and bar charts is the presentation of the data. In a column chart, the data is arranged vertically in the form of columns, while the bars of the bar chart are arranged horizontally.
Note for analyzing a column or bar chart: Since the column/bar chart divides the data into different columns/bars and shows their development over time, you have to follow the different categories from left to right and state whether the numbers go up or down.
components of a diagram
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title: It provides a brief explanation of the chart content and helps readers identify what they are looking at
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Axles: Line, column and bar charts have a coordinate system with two axes that are used to represent the values. The x-axis is the horizontal axis and the y-axis is the vertical.
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Legend: It provides information about what the individual elements (e.g. colors, axes, …) of the diagram represent. Like a map, the legend helps the reader understand what is in front of them
Chart English – Analysis and Description
Of course, like any English text, a diagram analysis also consists of an introduction, main part and conclusion.
In the introduction you name the purpose and that subject of the diagram. Here you should also mention the chart title, creator, publication place and date. to name. Besides, you should explain what kind of diagram you will describe and analyze. The introduction does not have to be longer than 2 to 3 sentences.
The main part starts with the Description of the chart. For this you only concentrate on what you see:
- What does the chart represent?
- What is the title of the chart?
- What do the legend and the labeling of the two axes say?
- What is being compared in the chart?
- How many colors are there and what do they stand for?
- What are the minimum and maximum values?
When describing, it is important that you do not already interpret. For example, what the data in the chart say or mean is not part of the description.
After the description of the chart you can devote to analysis. You should keep these questions in mind and answer them if possible:
- What conclusions can be drawn from the diagram?
- What are the main developments/changes/differences you can see?
- What are the reasons for the developments/changes/differences you describe?
- What are the main points/aspects that you can read from the diagram?
- What might the data from the chart look like five years from now?
In the So analysis goes beyond simple description. You interpret the data in the chart, think of possible reasons for what you see and speculate about developments.
At the end, i.e. in the final part of your text, you have to most important aspects of the diagram once again
summarized. In addition, you can indicate which problems and/or developments are to be expected from this data in the future or whether any topic-related information is missing from the presentation. As a rule, a short paragraph is sufficient here.
If you have to describe a diagram, you have to pay special attention to the correct use of tenses in English! To do this, you first need to know what era the chart data is from. If the dates are from the present tense, you must use the simple present in English. If the data comes from the past, you use the Simple Past. When there is a connection between the past and the present, you write in the present perfect.
vocabulary aids
In the table below you will find some helpful phrases for your chart description and analysis.
EnglishGermandivided intosubdivided inwas published in 2020 bywas published in 2020 byThe chart shows/depicts that…The line graph illustrates…The line graph illustrates…On the y-axis/x-axis you can see… Axis/x-axis can be seen… The horizontal axis represents…The horizontal axis represents…. reached a peak of…. reached a peak of….The percentage of…. decreased / declined / fell / went down The percentage of The number of … increased / rose / grew The number remained steady / did not change / remained constant / remained stable. Twice as many…Twice as many…the majority of / the minority of…changed gently / gradually / slightly / steadily / a little changed suddenly / sharply / dramatically / steeply / suddenThe biggest change was…The biggest change was…significantly / considerably fewer / less…much less… If you compare the figures for … and …, you can see … Comparing the numbers for … and …, one sees …There seems to be a correlation between… and…What is interesting here is…What is interesting here is …An interesting observation is…Concluding, …In summarySo you can say, …So you can say that…
Chart English describe pattern
So that you can understand our explanation exactly and are well prepared, you will find a template for a diagram description here. The bar chart below shows the frequency of social media use by youth in 2012 and 2018.
Figure 5: Sample chart
Here you can see how this diagram can be described in English, for example. Of course you can write more, but this sample should give you a first impression.
The y-axis represents the amount of users in percentage terms. On the x-axis, you can see the six different parts of the column chart that represent the frequency of social media use by teens. Each of these six parts is divided into two additional parts that show the two different years in comparison. The light blue columns show the use of social media in 2012. The dark blue columns show the use of social media in 2018.
The chart shows that in the year 2012 34% of the teens were using social media more than once a day. 17% were using it once a day, 14% several times a week and 10% lees than weekly. According to the column chart, 70% of the teenagers in 2018 were using social media more than once every day. 3% of the teens were using social media only once a day, while 4% were using it several times a week.
Chart english analysis example
Let’s use the same bar chart for analysis – for example, you can analyze the chart of how often teens use social media.
Compared to 2012 the numbers of teens using social media more than once a day doubled in 2018. A reason for that could be that more teens had access to a personal smartphone in 2018 compared to 2012. In contrast to 2012, only a small amount of teens were using social media only once a day in 2018. Same goes for the teenagers, who were on social media sites several times a week, only once a week and less than weekly. We can see a downward trend when it comes to these four categories. What is interesting here is that the percentage of teenagers not using social media increased with 2% in 2018 compared to 2012.
Chart English – The most important things at a glance
- There are different types of charts: pie chart, line chart, column chart, bar chart, etc.
- A chart analysis consists of three parts: introduction, body, summary.
- When describing a chart, you only name the points that you actually see. Here you are not allowed to interpret, but to describe literally.
- In chart analysis, you can then go beyond describing. You interpret the data in the chart, think of possible reasons for what you see and speculate about developments.