IELTS Vocabulary: Talking flexibly about percentages and numbers
Graphs and tables often use percentages. It helps if you can use expressions which reduce the number of times you repeat the same style, such as, ‘forty per cent’, or ‘twenty per cent’. Take a look at some possibilities.
| Figure | Alternative expressions |
| 0% | zero per cent/none of/absolutely no one/…failed to register anything |
| 5% | five percent/a twentieth/only a minority/a small proportion/percentage/a very low level of… |
| 10% | ten per cent/a tenth/only one in ten |
| 20% | twenty per cent/a fifth/less than a quarter |
| 25% | twenty-five per cent/a quarter/one in four |
| 30% | thirty per cent/slightly more than a quarter/nearly a third of… |
| 40% | forty per cent/two fifths of/between a third and a half of/somewhat less than half |
| 50% | fifty per cent/half/the whole number was evenly divided… |
| 60% | sixty per cent/almost two thirds/more than half/the majority |
| 70% | seventy per cent/a good majority/nearly three quarters |
| 75% | seventy-five per cent/three quarters/a clear majority |
| 80% | eighty per cent/four fifths/a very sizeable majority |
| 95% | ninety-five per cent/nearly all/the vast majority/all but 5% |
| 100% | a hundred per cent/all/the whole group/everyone in that group |
| 1-5 | a few/only a few |
| 10 | a small number |
| 101-105 | just over a hundred |
| 12 | twelve/a dozen |
| 24 | two dozen |
| 50,000 dollars | the same amount/half that amount (25,000 dollars) |
| 50,000 litres | fifty thousand litres/the same volume |
| 50,000kg | fifty thousand kilos/the same weight/half that weight (25,000kg) |
Years and months
| Year/Period | Alternative expressions |
| 1949 | previous year/the year before that/the preceding year |
| 1950 (base year) | 1950/that year/the same year |
| 1951 | the following year/a year later/a year after that |
| 1700 | seventeen hundred (During the seventeen hundreds/during the 18th century) |
| 1800 | following century/the 19th century/during the eighteen hundreds |
| 1900 | the century after that/the 20th century/during the nineteen hundreds |
| 2000 | a century later/this century/the 21st century |
| January | the previous month, the month before, the month prior |
| February | that month/the same month |
| February 1st (base) | the beginning of February/the first day of the month |
| February 2nd | the next day/the following day/a day later |
| February 5th | later that month/four days later/a few days after that |
| February 25th | towards the end of the month |
| February 28/29th | at the end of the month/on the last day of the month |
| 1950-60 | between 1950 and 1960/that decade/the same decade/that ten-year period |
| 1960-70 | the following decade/the next decade/the decade after that |
