Command words

The verb in a question tells you what kind of answer is being asked for. Answering the wrong kind of thing, describing when you were asked to explain or skipping the working on a ‘show that’, is one of the easiest ways to lose marks you could have had.

What follows is the common ground: the readings of these verbs that AQA, CIE, OCR A and Edexcel broadly share, plus the marking conventions most often taught alongside them. It is not a specification. Each of the four boards publishes its own command-word list, and they do not match word for word: a board may use a verb this page does not list, leave out one it does, or define a shared verb slightly differently. Where a habit below is a convention rather than a stated rule it says so. When a mark depends on it, the definitive answer is your own board’s glossary: see the exam-board views for which specification is yours.

Recall: just state the fact

State / Give / Write down: Give a brief fact or answer with no explanation and no working. One line is enough. “State the unit of magnetic flux.” Answer: the weber (Wb).
Name: Identify something with a word or short phrase.
Define: Give the precise meaning, often as a word equation or a ‘… is …’ statement. Use the exact terms the mark scheme expects. “Define gravitational field strength.” Answer: the force per unit mass on a small test mass at that point.

Work it out: numbers

Calculate: Work out a numerical answer. On a question worth more than one mark, set out your working and give a unit: the method marks are there to be picked up even when the final number is wrong, and all four boards mark that way.
Determine: Calculate a value. Most boards use it where the answer has to come from data supplied or read off a graph rather than from recall, so look for the source you are meant to use.
Estimate: Get an answer of the right order of magnitude using sensible assumptions; usually one significant figure is fine.
Show that: Arrive at a result you have already been given. The answer is printed in the question, so the marks are for the route: set the steps out rather than writing down the number. A convention taught widely, and rewarded by examiners across these boards, is to quote your answer to one more significant figure than the value you were given, which shows it really came out. It is a convention rather than a rule the specifications all state, and not every ‘show that’ is marked that way, so check the guidance for your own board. “Show that g ≈ 9.8 N kg⁻¹…” End with 9.81 to show it really comes out.

Reason: in words

Describe: Say what happens or what something looks like. No reasons are needed, just an accurate account.
Explain: Give the reason or mechanism: a cause and effect, usually signalled by ‘because’. A description on its own will not score. ‘The current falls’ describes; ‘the current falls because the p.d. across the resistor drops’ explains.
Suggest: Apply what you know to an unfamiliar situation and give a reasoned answer. There may be more than one acceptable response.
Compare: Give both similarities and differences, and make each point about both things together, using words like ‘whereas’ or ‘both’.
Justify / Deduce: Support a statement or conclusion with evidence or reasoning, or draw a conclusion that follows from the information given.

Graphs and judgement

Sketch: Draw the correct shape with axes labelled and key features (intercepts, asymptotes, turning points) marked. It need not be to scale, but the proportions should be right.
Plot: Mark the given data points accurately on the axes provided, then draw the line or curve of best fit.
Evaluate: Weigh the points for and against, or the strengths and limitations, and give a supported overall conclusion.
Predict: Say what will happen, using the physics you have been given rather than a guess. A prediction on its own rarely scores: name the rule or relationship it follows from. Predict what happens to the current when the temperature of the thermistor rises.

These readings are ours, drawn from what the four boards’ own glossaries and mark schemes have in common; where your board words a command differently, its wording wins. See also the key ideas for each topic and the revision checklist.