If you have ever known the content but still lost marks, the problem may not be your memory. It may be that you answered the wrong task.
Exam command words are the verbs in a question that tell you what kind of answer earns credit: define, explain, analyse, compare, evaluate, justify, discuss, or calculate. This guide is for students preparing for essay exams, short-answer tests, GCSEs, A-levels, AP exams, university finals, and any exam where marks depend on matching your response to the question.
In the next 10 minutes, you will learn a simple system for decoding command words, planning answers faster, and checking whether your response actually matches what the examiner asked.
Exam command words are instruction verbs that tell you how to answer. They are sometimes called directive words, task words, or question words. The topic tells you what to write about; the command word tells you what to do with that topic.
For example, “Describe photosynthesis” and “Evaluate the importance of photosynthesis” are not the same question. The first asks for features or stages. The second asks for a judgement supported by reasons and evidence. BBC Bitesize explains command words such as discuss and analyse as instructions that shape the answer, not decoration in the question: BBC Bitesize command words guide.
This matters because examiners often award marks for the type of thinking shown. A student who writes five correct facts for an “evaluate” question may still lose marks if they never weigh evidence or reach a conclusion.
Most students revise content first and answer style second. That is backwards for written exams. If the question asks you to analyse, marks are usually tied to relationships, causes, consequences, or parts of a system. If it asks you to compare, marks are tied to similarities and differences. If it asks you to justify, marks are tied to reasons that defend a decision.
This connects to Bloom’s Taxonomy, a widely used framework for cognitive demand. The revised model includes 6 levels: remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, and create. The University of Arkansas notes that higher-level tasks build on earlier ones: before you can evaluate a process, you usually need to analyse it. Source: University of Arkansas teaching guide on Bloom’s Taxonomy.
In practical terms, command words help you decide how deep your answer must go. “List” may need short points. “Explain” needs links between ideas. “Assess” or “evaluate” needs judgement. That difference can decide whether a 6-mark answer sounds like a 2-mark answer.
You do not need to memorize every possible verb. Start by sorting command words into 6 families. This gives you a fast mental shortcut during exams.
These ask you to retrieve information accurately. Keep answers short and precise unless the mark scheme asks for more. For a 1-mark “define” question, one clean sentence is often better than a long paragraph.
These ask you to show understanding. Do not just name facts; connect them. “Explain” usually means show why something happens or how one thing leads to another.
These ask you to separate a topic into parts and show relationships. A strong analysis answer often uses cause and effect, strengths and weaknesses, patterns, exceptions, or links between evidence and conclusion.
ABMA Education describes “analyse” as separating information into components and identifying their characteristics, which is a useful exam-friendly definition. Source: ABMA guide to examination command words.
These ask for relationships between 2 or more things. “Compare” usually needs similarities and differences. “Contrast” focuses on differences. “Distinguish” asks you to make the boundary between concepts clear.
These are where many students lose marks. Judgement words require evidence plus a conclusion. You are not just explaining the topic; you are deciding how strong, important, effective, valid, or convincing something is.
ABE UK explains that directive words such as evaluate, discuss, and explain guide how an answer should be written. For “evaluate,” your answer should not stop at description; it should reach a supported judgement. Source: ABE UK guide to command words.
These ask you to use knowledge in a specific context. The danger is writing generic theory when the question wants the theory applied to a case, data set, diagram, quote, or scenario.
Use this method before you start writing. It takes about 60 to 120 seconds, but it can save you from writing a correct answer to the wrong question.
The exam question is a contract. The command word is the action you are being paid marks to perform.
These templates are not scripts to memorize. They are thinking frames. Adapt them to your subject and mark scheme.
Template: Term means precise meaning. If useful, add one example or boundary.
Example: “Osmosis is the movement of water molecules across a partially permeable membrane from a region of higher water potential to lower water potential.”
Template: Point, because reason, which leads to result.
Example: “Increasing temperature raises enzyme activity up to an optimum because particles have more kinetic energy, which increases successful collisions between enzymes and substrates.”
Template: Break the issue into part A and part B, show how they interact, then explain the effect.
Example: “The policy reduced short-term unemployment by increasing demand, but it also raised inflationary pressure. This means the benefit depends on whether the economy had spare capacity.”
Template: Similarity, difference, significance of the difference.
Example: “Both methods improve recall by requiring retrieval, but practice questions also train exam format. That makes practice questions more useful close to the test.”
Template: Argument for, argument against, evidence, judgement.
Example: “The source is useful because it gives a direct eyewitness account, but its reliability is limited by political bias. Overall, it is valuable for understanding attitudes, not for confirming exact numbers.”
Template: Decision, reason 1, reason 2, why alternatives are weaker.
Example: “I would choose method B because it gives a faster result and has a lower error risk. Method A is cheaper, but the question prioritizes accuracy.”
You can train command words without doing a full past paper. Use this 10-minute drill 3 times per week during exam season.
This drill works because it separates question interpretation from content recall. If you only practise full answers, you may not notice that your planning step is the real weakness.
Many students answer “evaluate,” “analyse,” and “discuss” questions by describing the topic. Description may be necessary, but it is not enough. Add relationships, reasons, evidence, and judgement when the verb requires it.
A question that asks for “two reasons” does not reward 6 rushed reasons equally. A question that says “using the source” expects source evidence. Scope words are mark-saving instructions.
Starting immediately can feel efficient, but it often causes rambling. A 90-second plan can protect a 20-minute answer. Write the command word at the top of your plan so you keep returning to the task.
If you evaluate, state what “good,” “effective,” “important,” or “convincing” means in context. Your judgement becomes stronger when the reader can see the standard you are using.
Use this checklist during practice papers until it becomes automatic.
The fastest way to improve is to turn your own notes into questions that use different command words. With Snitchnotes, you can convert class notes, PDFs, and study material into cleaner revision notes and quiz-style prompts, then practise explaining, comparing, and evaluating instead of only rereading.
A simple workflow is: upload notes to Snitchnotes, generate study notes, create practice questions, and rewrite each question with a different command word. For example, change “Define cognitive load” into “Explain how cognitive load affects revision” and then “Evaluate one strategy for reducing cognitive load before exams.”
Command words are instruction verbs in exam questions that tell you how to answer. Examples include define, describe, explain, analyse, compare, evaluate, justify, and discuss. They show whether the examiner wants recall, explanation, application, comparison, analysis, or judgement.
Explain means show why or how something happens. Analyse means break something into parts and show relationships between those parts. An explanation may describe a cause; an analysis usually examines causes, effects, patterns, tensions, or significance in more depth.
To answer an evaluate question, present evidence for more than one side, weigh the strengths and limits, then make a clear judgement. Do not stop at description. The final sentence should say how effective, important, reliable, or convincing the idea is and why.
Pick 5 past-paper questions and identify the command word, topic, scope, and evidence requirement for each. Then write a 1-sentence plan for each answer. This 10-minute drill trains you to understand questions before writing full responses.
Exam command words are small, but they control the whole answer. If you learn to decode them, you can stop guessing what the examiner wants and start matching your response to the marks available.
Before your next practice paper, do one thing: underline every command word and write the required answer type beside it. Then use Snitchnotes to turn your notes into practice prompts so you can train the difference between defining, explaining, analysing, comparing, and evaluating before exam day.
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