IELTS Grammar: fall or reduce?

These two words are the opposites of 'rise' and 'raise' (see last week's grammar lesson):

• something falls (e.g. the price fell)
• somebody reduces something (e.g. the company reduced the price)

You will probably use 'fall' to describe numbers on a graph or chart for IELTS Writing Task 1:

• In 2008, the number of customers fell. (verb, past)
• There was a sharp fall in Internet usage. (noun)

'Reduce' and 'reduction' are probably more useful for Writing Task 2:

• We need to reduce the amount of pollution from exhaust fumes. (verb)
• Recycling leads to a reduction in waste. (noun)

Comments

[Felora]

Dear Simon,
Is this sentence correct?

Many horror and crime films are far from reality and viewing such movies can cause deterioration.

Thanks

[nirma]

Hi simon,
What does a paraphrase means?
how can we know paraphrase in the passage?

Thanks

[Simon]

Hi Felora,

I wouldn't use the word "deterioration". Change it to something like "...can have a negative effect on a person's behaviour"

...

Hi Nirma,

Paraphrasing means writing (or saying) the same thing but in a different way. To paraphrase something, you can just change some of the words. Look at my writing task 1 lessons to see some examples.

Regards

Simon

[johnny]

Dear simon,
Could you give some advices on the general trainning writing task1(letters) in future?
I found almost all your writing task1 threads are concentrated on academic ones.

[Simon]

Hi Johnny,

I'm afraid I don't do any work on the general training exam. All of my lessons focus on the academic test.

There are some good books that help you with letter writing for the general test.

Sorry I couldn't help

[Jack Hunter]

Hi Simon,

Is it possible for us to use "reduced" in Task 1 like this sentence: In 2008, the number of customers reduced?

Many thanks in advance.

[Simon]

Hi Jack,

No, 'reduced' doesn't work in that sentence. The number of customers fell / decreased / dropped.

[Syd]

Reduce can be both transitive and intr. So what's the problem?