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  1. The graph compares the number of A and the number of B.

I was thinking it equals:

  1. The graph compares the number of A and B.

But the number of A and the number of B are two different numbers, so should it be:

  1. The graph compares the numbers of A and B.

For example, should I use number or numbers in the following sentence?

  1. The graph compares the number(s) of visits abroad by UK residents with those made to the UK by overseas residents. (those = visits here)
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  • My preferred phrasing would be the number of A's and B's (naturally reduced from the number of A's and the number of B's). For example 4: The graph compares the number of visits abroad by UK residents with [that of] overseas residents visiting the UK. OR forget "numbers" - The graph compares visits abroad by UK residents with overseas residents visiting the UK. Commented Aug 27 at 11:59
  • I'm a bit confused because there were times when there were two types of numbers mentioned and I was advised to use "numbers" instead. So when is that necessary? Commented Aug 27 at 12:59
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    I kinda doubt you were thus "advised" by a native speaker (perhaps a somewhat literal-minded non-Anglophone teacher?). There aren't "two types of numbers" anyway, because if the numbers really were different things (such as the number of noses, and the number of kilograms body weight associated with inward and outward travelers) it would be meaningless to compare them. But note that both my Comment and @TimR's Answer explicitly point out that it's easier (and probably more natural) to forget about the word "number" here anyway - it's not particularly helpful in this context. Commented Aug 27 at 16:35
  • Yes, I understand now that "number" is not necessary, but I'd love to learn about plural and singular. I think the sentence I encountered was something like The proportions of boys and girls playing football in their free time were different, at 10% and 3% respectively. At that time, I really believed in the advice as we mentioned 2 proportions and even said that they were different, so writing the proportion of A and B was different, at X% and Y% respectively is pretty strange to me logically. Commented Aug 27 at 23:32
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    @AnIELTSLearner. The phrase “compare the numbers” is grammatically correct and widely used in reliable sources. Your teacher’s advice is accurate and particularly suitable for IELTS learners. The suggestion that “numbers” is unnecessary is misleading because the phrase is widely used; when comparing two distinct figures, “the numbers of A and B” is the correct and precise form. Commented Aug 28 at 3:17

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You don't need to mention "number". It is implicit in the plural "visits" when "visits" are the comparands.

The graph compares tourist visits abroad by UK residents with tourist visits to the UK by residents of other countries.

If it were not the number of visits being compared, then it would be something like

The graph compares the money spent abroad by UK tourists with the money spent in the UK by tourists from other countries.

The graph compares length-of-stay by UK tourists when traveling abroad with length-of-stay by tourists from other countries when visiting the UK.

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  • Is mentioning the keyphrase twice in a row a must? Commented Aug 27 at 12:56
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    @AnIELTSLearner You'd have to say something like "The chart compares tourist visits by UK residents to other countries with those by residents of other countries to the UK. But that saves you a single word and is less clear -- IMO not worth it. Are the visits by residents of the other countries combined or is there a breakout by country? Commented Aug 27 at 14:23
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    This answer is good / best. Do not use the possessive as one commenter suggests, it is a common grammar error. What I think you mean by "mentioning the key phrase twice" ("tourist visits to") is an example of 'parallel construction' and it is the proper way to refer to the two groups in this context, where we prefer precision and clarity to an economy of words. Commented Aug 28 at 2:22
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    @AnIELTSLearner A plural comparand may not always be understood as a reference to its number: "The chart compares cars...". People are always comparing car features (not so with "tourist visits"). But you will be OK if you follow the advice I left below your question, to make the topical subject of the graph the grammatical subject of your sentence, choosing a verb that expresses the particular real-world fact a graph illustrates: Cars produced domestically are in the shop on average nine days per year, two days more than imports, but the average repair cost of imports is 30% higher. Commented Aug 28 at 10:26
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    If you feel the need to say "The chart shows..." you can open the sentence with that phrase and make the above a content-clause: "The chart shows that cars produced domestically are in the shop..." Commented Aug 28 at 10:28
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You don't need to mention anything! It is implict in the presetation of a labelled graph that the number of A is being compared with the number of B.

Don't state the obvious I assume this is for writing an essay or something. If you have a graph which is properly labelled you don't need to say "This graph compares A and B" Anybody who looks at the graph can see that. Instead add value: Don't say, "This graph compares the number of hats sold and the number of belts sold." Say, "Sales of hats increased faster than belts post-pandemic, this was mostly led by trends among young men."

My example tells the reader something that they might not notice or be able to work out from the graph alone. Here is a typical example of what not to do

This graph compares consumer expenditures in three American Cities from 2007 to 2010

The paragraph "This graph compares consumer expenditures in three American Cities from 2007 to 2010", is completely redundant and should be cut out. I know it is a graph, I know it compares consumer expenditure, because the vertical axis is labelled "yearly household spending". I know it compares three American cities because the labelled "San Fransico", "Cleveland" and "Houston". I know it is from 2007 to 2010 because of the horizontal axis.

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  • A useful caption for this graph might be "President Bush failed to address systemic differences in wealth. This ultimately led to the disaffaction of voters working class voters in cities like Cleveland and the election of Trump." Commented Aug 28 at 9:50
  • As much as I appreciate your advice and wish that the IELTS test worked that way, it doesn't. There's a set of rules for takers to follow because they try to make sure that the test is simply about language ability and barely requires social knowledge. That's why we even get marked down when giving personal opinions; we're required to and should only report what can be seen in the chart. Commented Aug 29 at 2:03
  • Although I strongly support @JamesK's general principle of avoiding redundancy, I'm not convinced that it applies to the combination of (a) the running text's discussion of some figure and (b) that figure's caption. Other worthy goals besides avoidance of redundancy include throroughness and clarity. I strive to make every combination of a figure with its caption suffice to convey the intended message, but also find it wise to craft the running-text discussion so that it has no important gaps that require recourse to the caption. But all of this is style, not learning English. Commented Aug 30 at 14:59

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