Prepositions examiners notice In, on, at, by, to, for: the small words that decide whether a sentence sounds natural, especially when you describe data.
Describing changes in data (Writing Task 1)
Use "by" for the size of a change and "to" for the final value. Use "of" after a noun that names the size, and "in" after a noun that names what changed.
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Sales rose by 15% to 2 million units.
Sales rose with 15% until 2 million units.
"by" = how much, "to" = where it ended.
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There was a rise of 15% in sales.
There was a rise of sales of 15%.
a rise OF (amount) IN (thing).
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The figure peaked at 40% in 2019.
The figure peaked on 40% in 2019.
peak at, stand at, level off at.
Time: in, on, at
Think of a funnel from big to small: "in" for long periods (years, months, decades), "on" for days and dates, "at" for exact times.
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in 1990, in the 1990s, in March, in the morning
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on Monday, on 5 June, on my birthday
in Monday
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at 7 o'clock, at night, at the weekend (British)
"over the period" and "between 2000 and 2010" are also common in Task 1.
Dependent prepositions to learn as chunks
Many adjectives, verbs and nouns take a fixed preposition. Learn them as one unit, not as separate words.
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responsible for, interested in, good at, aware of, dependent on
good in maths
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We discussed the problem.
We discussed about the problem.
"discuss" takes no preposition. But: a discussion ABOUT.
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She is married to a doctor.
She is married with a doctor.
IELTS tip
In Task 1, the same few prepositions do most of the work: by, to, of, in, at, from, between, over. Get these right and your report already reads more accurately.
Practice quiz
Pass with 7 or more to tick this topic off.
