How to write a body paragraph.

In IELTS WRITING Task 1, a well-developed main paragraph will impress the examiner and lead to a higher BAND score.

Where to put a main body paragraph

The main body paragraph often comes after the overview paragraph.

Introduction

Overview

Main Paragraph

This is the most logical position as the overview provides a preview or summary before the key details are reported

There are a few things you need to do in order to write a high-scoring paragraph.

Writing an body paragraph for Task 1 can be relatively simple.

Following the steps I have provided below will help your write a decent paragraph.

You will still need to practice writing for different topics and read the questions carefully.

4 Easy Steps

Step One

For most Task 1 Reports, it is sufficent to write just one body paragraph.

A typical paragraph will probably contain about six sentences at most.

Step Two

There are three things to remember while writing body paragraph: trends, figures and comparisons.

Try to group trends together and alsways give key figures.

Be careful not to report everything you see and don’t report every single figure you can see.

Try to compare if you think the example is relevant and give exceptions.

Step Three

Explain the trend when you start the sentence (so at the beginning of the sentence) and give key figures while writing (generally at the end).

Step Four

Provide a noticeable or significant exception to the trend and place this at the end of the paragraph structure.

Turning to X, the trend was a gradual increase and then a decrease, going from 200 to 240 and then down to 150.

Doing this, will make the contrast stronger for the reader.

Remember:

Your task is to compare trends and exceptions between graphs or groups and include key figures where necessary.

Have a look at my own example

“As regards to car sales, it is clear that the purchase rate in Japan and China was almost stable between 1998-2004, fluctuating around 500.000 and 700.000 per year respectively. In Russia and Finland, the figure climbed dramatically, going from 400.000 to 700.000 and 200.000 to 500.000. In France, however, the number of cars sold decreased by almost half.”

Notice that I have stuctured and written the the above paragraph in three sentences.

The first sentences refers to Japan and China and explains a trend. In this case, the trend is stability and the fact that there are some fluctuations. It also gives key figures where they are appropriate.

In this case, it is the fluctuations between two figures.

The second sentence refers to a futher catagory (Russia and Finland) and is grouped because both share some kind of relationship. The relationship is the rising trend. In this case, four figures are reported, the in Russia from a figure and to a figure and likewise the rise in Finland

The final sentence in this example provides a contrast or an exception. The exception to the trend is France. The exception is introduced with the signalling word however.

Rather than report key details with numbers, a prepositional phrase (by half) is enough to illustrate the decline in numbers sold so you can see that sometimes it is important to give more information than just figures.

By following this example, you can display the high levels of language that give you a high band score.

To talk about similarities and comparisons

If you want to talk about a similar trend or a similarity you can use further phrases such as

Similarly / likewise / in the same way or followed a similar pattern or trend

Further ways to talk about exceptions

In the same way, if you want to talk about exceptions or contrasts you could use

However / By contrast / by comparison or conversely

Here’s the final Body of my Essay with those examples included

“As regards to car sales, it is clear that the purchase rate in Japan and China followed a similar trend and was almost stable between 1998-2004, fluctuating around 500.000 and 700.000 per year respectively. By contrast, both Russia and Finland followed a similar trend where the figure climbed dramatically, going from 400.000 to 700.000 and 200.000 to 500.000. In France, conversely, the number of cars sold decreased by almost half.”