Numbers, charts and trends

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Saying numbers the American wayVocabulary
7. 7How do you say it?Vocabulary exercise
8. 8The chart: Copperline Bikes, 2026Reading
9. 9Check your understandingReading comprehension
10. 10Listen: Stefan's updateListening comprehension
11. 11Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
12. 12What does it mean?Grammar exercise
13. 13Find the words of changeGrammar exercise
14. 14Describing changeGrammar rule
15. 15Choose the right wordGrammar exercise
16. 16Describe the chartGrammar exercise
17. 17Say the numbers clearlySpeaking practice
18. 18Present a chartSpeaking practice
19. 19Let's discussDiscussion
20. 20Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: say it another wayGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: a short update for your managerDiscussion

Words

• revenue/ˈrevənuː/

  the money that a company receives from selling goods or services, before costs are taken away

• figure/ˈfɪɡjər/

  a number, especially an official one (sales figures)

• quarter/ˈkwɔːrtər/

  one of the four three-month periods of a business year (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4); also one of four equal parts (¼)

• forecast/ˈfɔːrkæst/

  a statement about what will probably happen in the future, based on the information you have (also a verb)

• target/ˈtɑːrɡɪt/

  a result that you plan to reach (hit or miss a target)

• on track/ˌɑːn ˈtræk/

  making the progress you planned, so you will probably reach your goal on time

• peak/piːk/

  the highest point or level (also a verb: Sales peaked in July.)

• level off/ˌlevl ˈɔːf/

  to stop rising or falling and stay at about the same level

• fluctuate/ˈflʌktʃueɪt/

  to go up and down, again and again

• year over year/ˌjɪr oʊvər ˈjɪr/

  compared with the same period one year before (YoY)

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about numbers at work.

1. What numbers do you work with in your job: prices, sales, hours, budgets or something else?
2. Do you understand numbers more easily in a chart, in a table or in words? Why?
3. Which numbers in English are the hardest for you to say or to catch on the phone?

Grammar rule

Describing change

Verbs and nouns of change

	Verbs (past form)	Nouns
↑ up	rise (rose, risen) · increase · grow (grew, grown) · go up	a rise · an increase · growth
↓ down	fall (fell, fallen) · drop · decrease · decline · go down	a fall · a drop · a decrease · a decline
→ no change	stay the same · remain stable · level off
top and bottom	peak · hit a low	a peak · a low
↑↓ up and down	fluctuate	fluctuations

How big? How fast?

A verb takes an adverb (-ly). A noun takes an adjective.

Verb + adverb	Adjective + noun	Meaning
rose slightly	a slight rise	a little
fell sharply / dramatically	a sharp / dramatic fall	fast, by a lot
increased significantly	a significant increase	by a lot
grew steadily	steady growth	at a regular speed
declined gradually	a gradual decline	slowly, over a long time

Membership grew steadily in 2025. = We saw steady growth in membership in 2025. After stay, remain and be, use an adjective, not an adverb: stay flat, remain steady. Growth usually has no a: strong growth.

Prepositions

Preposition	It shows	Example
by	the size of the change	The price of a latte went up by 50 cents.
from … to	the old level and the new level	It went up from $5 to $5.50.
of (after a noun)	the size of the change	a rise of 50 cents (or: a 10% rise)
in (after a noun)	what changed	a rise in rents
at	the level at one point	Membership now stands at 820.

In news and business writing, by is often left out: Prices rose 3%.

Rise or raise? Prices rise (no object). A company raises its prices (with an object). Not rised or falled, not a sharply rise or rose sharp, and not a rise by 50 cents.