Why map vocabulary is different
Lexical Resource is 25% of your Task 1 score. For map tasks, the examiner is looking for two specific things: spatial prepositions (can you describe where things are?) and passive constructions for physical change (can you say what happened to a place without using "they built" or "people made"?). Students who have only practised line graphs and bar charts often lack both.
Below are seven categories of vocabulary you will need for IELTS map tasks. Each category comes with a visual guide, a set of accurate phrases, and an example sentence showing how to use them in a real report.
The categories and their words
Common vocabulary mistakes
These are real mistakes from student map reports. In each case, the problem is not grammar — it is using the wrong register or missing the spatial element that the examiner expects.
"They built a supermarket and they made a new road."
"A supermarket was constructed on the main road and a new road was built to the south."
We do not know who built the supermarket, and it does not matter. Map reports describe changes to a place, not actions by people. "They built" and "people made" are active voice — they sound like spoken English, not academic description. Use passive voice throughout.
"There is a shopping centre. There is a school. There is a bridge."
"A shopping centre was developed to the south, a school was built in the south-west, and a bridge was constructed over the river."
"There is" only describes what exists now. It says nothing about what changed. The examiner wants to see that you can describe the transformation — not just the end result. "Was developed", "was built", and "was constructed" all show that something changed from one state to another.
"A school was built. A supermarket was built. A sports centre was built."
"A school was built in the south-western corner, replacing part of the woods. Adjacent to the main road, a supermarket was constructed on the site of the former post office."
Listing what is new without saying where it is misses the point of a map task. Every change should include a spatial reference — where the new feature is, and ideally what it replaced. This is what the examiner means by "selecting and reporting the main features."
Tense — past maps need passive past
Map tasks almost always compare two time periods. The tense you use depends on whether both maps are in the past, or one is the present. Most map tasks follow a simple pattern.
If both maps show past dates (e.g. 1950 and 1990), use past simple passive for everything. If one map is "the present day", you can use present perfect passive for features that have survived ("has remained") and past simple passive for changes that happened.
Maps test different skills from data tasks. Students who memorise trend vocabulary — "increased", "decreased", "fluctuated" — often struggle because maps need spatial language and passive voice instead. If you have been practising only line graphs and bar charts, spend time on maps separately. The vocabulary is almost entirely different, and you cannot fake it on test day.