5.1 Explaining a Map or a Diagram

Key terms of position
Cardinal directions (compass points)
The four cardinal directions, or compass points, are the directions north, east, south, and west.
Points between the four main cardinal directions are the intercardinal directions. These are northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest.
Also note that in English you do not need a capital letter for them – they can work as adjectives – in the southwestern corner / or simply in the north east as a noun.

Image source.
Prepositions of place
There are currently 18,300,000 articles already published on this subject, so no need to go into detail here.
However, here are a few advanced prepositions and adverbs I couldn’t resist including:
Perpendicular to – at right angles to.
The main road is perpendicular to the train station.
Clockwise – following the rotating direction of the clock hands.
Moving in a clockwise direction from the hospital, we can see the new car park.
Along – nearby
Along the roadside we can see a new retail area and more office developments.
Map description verbs
Here we have included verbs for describing maps and change.
Build: Three new hospitals were built.
Construct: A new road was constructed next to the town.
Extend: The main road into town was extended by 20 meters.
Expand: The car park was expanded to accommodate an extra 50 cars.
Span: The bridge spans the width of the river.
Remove: The developers removed the old post box near the retail area.
Area: length, width, depth and height
We use the nouns length, width, depth and height and the adjectives long, wide, deep and high to talk about area and size.
Source. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/measurements
The width of the carpark is over 100 meters
The length of the pond is probably just under 20 meters.
The height of the first building is almost 70 meters.
Map specific vocabulary
City / town
Community greens: Shared open green spaces in residential neighborhoods.
Green belt: A policy used in urban planning to retain a “belt” of the natural environment around urban areas.
Greenfield land: Untouched and pristine land. Fields and forests.
Greyfield land: Buildings or real estate land that is economically useless. Disused car parks or abandoned factories.
Grid plan: A plan in the shape of a grid.
Pavement / sidewalk: The part of the street dedicated to just pedestrians.
Roundabout: circular intersection for leaving and entering other roadways.
Roadside: The side of the road. At the roadside there are three retailers.
Zone of transition: An area that is moving from one status to another. The area between the city centre and the green belt.
Landscape
Bay: small sea
Archipelago: a group of islands
Bog: wet spongy ground, swamp
Canal: man made navigable water way
Canyon: deep, narrow valley with steep sides, carved by a river
Hedge: row of shrubs forming a boundary
Moor: open land on hills with shrubs, heath
Strait: narrow waterway connecting two large bodies of water
Stream: very small river
Summit: highest point of a mountain
Tide: rise and fall of sea level
Tributary: stream leading to a bigger river
Valley: long depression between two hills
Useful grammar
- Present passive
Overall there are significant changes can be found in the island particularly the new accommodation facilities.
- Future passive
Overall, the resort will be built on the island and will include a hotel, a reception, houses, an artIficial lake and a pier.
- Perfect passive
Overall, the island has been transformed into a new resort which includes…
Example sentences
- On the western side – On the western side of the lake there are no longer any greyfield sites or wasteland.
- In the north western corner – In the north western corner of the rubric we can see the tallest of the three buildings.
- To the south – To the south of the lake we can see a new footpath, leading to a lake.
- In the centre – In the center of the island there is a new hotel.
- To the east of – To the east of the first car park we can see three new buildings.
- Significant – There were significant developments in the second map.