📊 Task 1 Specific
Task 1 Grammar Guide
Situational grammar rules for every chart and diagram type — know exactly when to use each tense, voice, and structure.
When to use this: Every Task 1 response — choosing the wrong tense is one of the most common Band-lowering errors.
✅ What to Use in Each Situation
🚫 What to Avoid
✕Using present tense to describe completed historical data
Why: Makes the report feel unacademic and suggests poor command of tense
Fix: If the chart covers a period that has ended, use past simple: 'rose', 'fell', 'remained'
✕Switching tenses randomly mid-paragraph
Why: Destroys coherence and signals lack of tense control
Fix: Decide the tense once in the introduction and maintain it consistently throughout
✕Using 'will' for process diagrams
Why: Processes are general truths, not future events
Fix: Use present simple passive: 'is filtered', 'is heated', 'is transported'
📝 In Practice
Context: Line graph: UK electricity consumption 2000–2020
✕ Weak:Between 2000 and 2010, consumption rises steadily from 320 to 410 terawatt-hours.
✓ Strong:Between 2000 and 2010, consumption rose steadily from 320 to 410 terawatt-hours.
💡 Completed historical period → past simple throughout
Context: Process: How solar panels generate electricity
✕ Weak:Sunlight struck the photovoltaic cells, which converted it into direct current.
✓ Strong:Sunlight strikes the photovoltaic cells, which convert it into direct current (DC) electricity.
💡 General scientific process → present simple (active or passive)