In this post: vocabulary for process diagrams, two body paragraphs from my essays rewritten, the most common ways to lose marks, FAQs, a 20-minute routine, a checklist and a short passive-voice exercise.
Process Diagrams · 3 parts
- 1. Question type and the passive
- 2. Sequencers and the Overview
- 3. Rewrites, mistakes and practice (you are here)
✦ In this post
8. Vocabulary for process diagrams
| Category | Words and phrases |
|---|---|
| Equipment | a designated machine, specialised equipment, a conveyor belt, a kiln, a mould, a silo, a container |
| Processing verbs | crush, grind, compress, melt, heat, cool, dry, mix, cut, shape, filter, purify |
| Movement verbs | transport, transfer, deliver, pour, load, carry, pass through |
| Adding | be added to, be mixed with, be combined with |
| Result | be turned into, be transformed into, be made into, form |
| Products | raw materials, end products, finished products, final products, packaged items |
| Time and temperature | for 24 to 48 hours, at a temperature of 870–1,300°C, over a period of 12 months |
9. Rewrite: Body 1 of the brick-making essay
The brick-making essay (Task 26) got only 5 for TA, and I think the main problem was the inaccurate description of the first three steps in Body 1: it added meanings that were not on the diagram (raw materials are made, successfully) and used a dangling structure that put the wrong subject in charge. Here is the original and a model rewrite:
Original (Task 26, Body 1, unchanged)
In the first three steps, clay is first collected by diggers under the ground, after which clay is put into metal grids. Successfully going through grids and being placed on specific rollers, the raw materials are made. Next, by adding sand and water, the third step turns raw material into bricks by moulds or wire cutters.
Model rewrite
The first stage involves digging clay from the ground using a digger. The clay is then placed on a metal grid and passed onto a roller. After that, sand and water are added, and the mixture is shaped into bricks, either in a mould or with a wire cutter.
- The subject is consistently the clay or the mixture, with the passive or “involves + -ing” throughout; “the third step” no longer acts as the doer.
- “Successfully” and “raw materials are made” are deleted: that information is not on the diagram.
- “Either … or …” covers the two shaping methods, matching the “or” on the diagram.
- The sentences are shorter and more direct, and the words saved can go on the temperatures and times later on.
The second body paragraph of this essay was actually good: drying for 24–48 hours, a moderate-temperature kiln at 200–980°C, a high-temperature kiln at 870–1,300°C and cooling for 48–72 hours, with all the figures included. The only problems were that “kiln” was spelt “kin” and “the delivering” should be “the delivery”; the last sentence, the final products are packaged and delivered to the market, is a perfectly correct passive sentence.
Rewrite: Body 2 of the instant noodle essay
Original (Task 13, Body 2, unchanged)
As regards the remaining stages, in the sixth stage, noodles discs are cooked with oil and dried by heat. After the cooking and drying stage, those dry discs are put into cups by particular machine. In this stage, ingredients like vegetables and spices are added into those containers. Finally, the labels are put on the outside-part of those cups, completing the production of instant noodles.
Model rewrite
The remaining three stages turn the discs into the final product. The noodle discs are first cooked in oil and dried, after which they are placed into cups. Vegetables and spices are then added, and finally the cups are labelled and sealed, ready for sale.
- A topic sentence first says what the paragraph covers (the last three steps turn the discs into the finished product), so the reader does not have to count.
- “In this stage” → “then”: in the original it is unclear which step “this” refers to.
- “Sealed” is added: the original never mentioned step 8, the sealing, which was one of the key reasons TA lost marks.
- “By particular machine” is deleted: it is missing an article, and it is not important information.
10. Common ways to lose marks
| Problem | Criterion affected | My examples |
|---|---|---|
| Missing a step | TA | Task 13: the sealing in step 8 not mentioned |
| Adding information not on the diagram | TA | Task 26: successfully, raw materials are made |
| Unclear step numbering | TA / CC | Task 13: step 7 skimmed over with “In this stage”; Task 37: said ten steps but the body paragraphs did not add up |
| Misusing “are been” or “being” | GRA | Task 9: are been compressed |
| Active and passive in the wrong places | GRA | Task 9: before compressing; Task 26: the third step turns … |
| Future tense | GRA | Task 9: are going to be washed |
| A gerund instead of a noun | LR | Task 26: the delivering of; Task 37: the releasing of |
| Spelling | LR | floor (flour), trunk (truck), kin (kiln), stationary (stationery), watched (washed) |
The spelling row looks funny, but these are all mistakes I really made. Errors like flour/floor and stationery/stationary, where the misspelling is still a real English word, are not caught by a computer spellchecker and are easy to miss when you check your own work. Yet they are especially common in process diagrams, because these questions often need nouns you do not use every day.
11. Process diagrams: frequently asked questions
Q1: Should I write “stage one”, “stage two” in the essay? Occasionally, to help the reader find their place, but not in every sentence. In the noodle essay I wrote In the fourth stage, in the sixth stage and In this stage, and as a result step 7 was only covered by “In this stage”, so the reader could not tell which step “this” meant. A better approach is to link the steps with sequencers and only say at the start of each paragraph which steps it covers.
Q2: What if there are very few steps and I cannot reach 150 words? Include the tool, time, temperature and purpose of each step, for example The bricks are left in a drying oven for 24 to 48 hours. (model). Do not add a conclusion or comments to reach the word count; a process diagram does not need your opinion.
Q3: Do I always need to say who does the action after “by”? No. The advantage of the passive is that you can leave out an unimportant agent. The bottles are collected is enough; you do not need “by workers”. Only mention it when the tool itself matters, for example “by a digger” or “using a wire cutter”.
Q4: Can I copy the labels on the diagram? You can use the nouns in the labels (kiln, silo, cellulose); these are technical terms with no substitute. But labels are usually noun phrases (Compressing into blocks), so they need to be rewritten as full passive sentences (the bottles are compressed into blocks). You cannot just string the labels together and call them sentences.
12. A 20-minute routine for process diagrams
| Time | What to do |
|---|---|
| 0–3 min | Count the steps, find the start and end points and check whether it is a cycle; decide which steps are natural (active) and which are man-made (passive); decide where to split the body paragraphs |
| 3–6 min | Introduction (the process by which …) + the Overview formula |
| 6–16 min | Body 1 and Body 2: at least one verb per step, and include any times, temperatures and tools shown; combine short steps with “after being” or “before being” |
| 16–20 min | Tick off each step against the diagram to make sure nothing is missing; check the passive, tenses and spelling |
Practising process diagrams has another advantage: the number of question types is limited, and the process diagrams in the Cambridge books fall into a handful of categories (manufacturing, recycling, natural cycles, energy). I suggest writing at least one essay of each kind, then ticking off each step against the diagram to make sure every step has a matching sentence. After comparing my four essays, this ticking-off habit is the advice I would most like to give my past self: the problems in both TA 5 essays would have shown up with a single step-by-step check against the diagram.
13. Checklist after writing
- ☐ Does the Overview give the number of stages, the start and the end? For a cycle, does it say the process starts again?
- ☐ Does the number of stages in the Overview match the body paragraphs?
- ☐ Is every step on the diagram covered (ticked off one by one)?
- ☐ Have I avoided adding information that is not on the diagram?
- ☐ Are man-made steps passive (is/are + p.p.) and natural steps active?
- ☐ No mistakes like “are been” or “is been”?
- ☐ Present simple throughout, with no “will” or “are going to”?
- ☐ Are the linkers varied, rather than “Then” or “In the X stage” in every sentence?
- ☐ Does the nominalisation use the proper noun (delivery, release, production)?
- ☐ Are the names of machines and materials spelt correctly?
14. Quick practice: change these to the passive
1. Workers collect the used bottles from households.
2. A machine cuts the dough into strips.
3. They heat the pellets to form raw material.
4. After they dry the bricks, they put them into a kiln.
Answers
1. The used bottles are collected from households.
2. The dough is cut into strips by a machine.
3. The pellets are heated to form raw material.
4. After being dried, the bricks are put into a kiln. (Or: Once the bricks have been dried, they are fired in a kiln.)
Note that in questions 1 and 3, “workers” and “they” are unimportant agents, so the passive sentences simply leave them out.
Further reading
- Review of my tutor Ali: simplifying my essay structure (400 → 300 words) (in Chinese)
- How to check your IELTS sub-scores (in Chinese)
- Farid, a former examiner: live feedback on speaking and writing (in Chinese)
- Recommended free IELTS resources online (in Chinese)
- Overview of all my IELTS notes (in Chinese)
This is the last part of “Process Diagrams”. To start again, go back to Part 1.
IELTS Notes in English · Task 1 Structure (post 5 of 7)
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Task 1 Structure · Task 2 Structure · Topic Guides · Writing Language · Band Score Samples · Practice Methods · Speaking & Study Tips
✦ Target Your Future
Some days you practise for hours and the score still does not move. I hope these notes remind you that the setbacks are part of the road: every recording you replayed, every essay you rewrote and every sentence you finally dared to say is progress you have already made.
I wrote this down so the next person can take fewer detours. You do not have to follow my method exactly. Find a rhythm that works for you, rest when you need to, and come back for the next small step.
I hope what you take away is more than a number on a score report: a little more confidence in yourself, and the courage to step a bit closer to the world.
— Ting
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