Every assessment task uses specific words to tell you what to do with your answer. Get the word wrong, and you can lose marks even when your content knowledge is solid.
If you are asked to evaluate a source you might spend the entire response describing it instead, and someone asked to compare two texts might only end up writing about one. Both examples show solid content undone by the wrong kind of response, usually because of a single misread word in the question.
This guide breaks down the most common words used in assessment questions, grouped by what they're actually asking you to do. Once you can tell the difference between them, you'll know what kind of response to write before you've even started planning it.
Words that ask you to show what you know
These words check whether you know a fact, term, or process. They don't want your opinion, just accurate information.
Define
Defining something means stating its precise meaning. In an assessment, this usually takes one or two sentences and needs to be accurate. An example on its own isn't a definition.
Asked to define renewable energy, you'd need to state what actually makes a source renewable, that it comes from something that naturally replenishes, such as sunlight or moving water
Identify
To identify something is to recognise it and point it out. Assessment questions using this word want you to name or select specific information from a text, image, or data set. You're not explaining why it matters yet, just showing you can spot it.
Once you can define renewable energy, identifying it is more straightforward: picking out which sources in a list or image, like solar panels or a wind turbine, fit that definition.
Describe
A description sets out the features or characteristics of something. In an assessment, you need to explain what something looks like, how it works, or what happened, in detail and in a logical order.
Describing renewable energy goes further than identifying it, setting out how a source like wind actually works, its blades turning a rotor that drives a generator to produce electricity.
State
This is one of the more straightforward instructions you'll come across. Stating something means expressing it clearly and briefly, usually as a direct fact or answer, without justification or extra detail.
Where describing renewable energy means setting out how it works, stating something about it is narrower again, giving a single fact without elaboration, such as noting that solar and wind are among the most widely used renewable sources.
Words that ask you to walk the reader through something
These words ask you to make an idea or process understandable to someone else, using reasoning rather than just facts.
Explain
To explain something, you need to say what it is and why it happens or why it matters. A common mistake is describing something instead of explaining it. If your answer only covers what happened without covering why, the question hasn't been fully answered.
Explaining why renewable energy use has grown means giving reasons, such as falling costs for solar panels and wind turbines and stronger government incentives, rather than simply noting that growth has happened.
Clarify
Clarifying a point means making something confusing or ambiguous easier to understand. This might mean removing uncertainty around an idea, or taking a general statement and being more precise about what it actually means.
If a source described gas as a "clean" energy option, clarifying that claim would mean pointing out that gas still produces emissions and isn't classified as renewable, even though it's sometimes framed as a cleaner alternative to coal.
Interpret
Interpreting something goes beyond repeating information, it asks what that information actually suggests. If a question asks you to interpret data, a quote, or a result, you're working out its meaning rather than restating what's already there.
Interpreting a rise in renewable energy use might mean explaining what it suggests about public or government priorities, rather than just describing that the rise has occurred.
Illustrate
An illustration uses examples to make a point clear. In an assessment, this means backing an idea up with a specific example, case, or piece of evidence that shows it in action. A good illustration turns something abstract into something concrete.
To illustrate the appeal of renewable energy, you might point to a household that's cut its power bill after installing solar panels, a concrete case that makes the broader point easier to grasp.
Words that ask you to look at how things relate
These words want you to consider two or more things side by side, rather than write about just one.
Compare
Comparing things means identifying what they have in common. Most compare questions expect you to refer to all the items you're comparing throughout your answer, rather than covering one and then the other separately.
Comparing solar and wind energy means noting what they share, such as producing no direct emissions once installed and depending on weather conditions to generate power.
Contrast
Where comparing looks at similarities, contrasting looks at differences. Some questions combine the two, asking you to compare and contrast, in which case your answer needs to cover both.
Contrasting solar and wind takes that same pairing and flips it, pointing out that solar output depends on daylight hours while wind can generate power at any time, given enough wind.
Distinguish
Distinguishing between things means recognising what makes them different enough to be treated separately. This word often comes up when two concepts or ideas could easily be confused, and you're being asked to draw a clear line between them.
Distinguishing renewable sources from non-renewable ones draws a clearer line again, separating solar, wind, and hydro from sources like coal and gas, which don't naturally replenish.
Classify
Classifying something means grouping it according to shared characteristics. You'll usually need to sort information, items, or ideas into categories, and be ready to justify why each one belongs where you've placed it.
Classifying a broader list of energy sources builds on that same distinction, sorting each one into a renewable or non-renewable category and explaining what ties each group together.
Words that ask you to break something down
These words want you to go beneath the surface of a topic, rather than just describe it.
Analyse
Analysing something means breaking it into its parts and examining each one. This is one of the more demanding command words on this list, because it's not enough to identify the parts, you also need to explain how they relate to each other or contribute to a bigger picture. A common trap is analysing at the surface, describing each element without exploring the connections between them.
Analysing the shift toward renewable energy means identifying the different factors behind it, such as cost, technology, and policy, and explaining how they connect rather than listing them separately.
Examine
Examining something means looking at it closely and carefully. It's similar to analysing but usually less demanding, asking you to consider specific aspects of a topic in some depth without necessarily drawing out relationships between every part.
Examining just one of those factors, like falling technology costs, means looking closely at that single piece without necessarily tying it back to the others.
Investigate
Investigating a topic means gathering information about it systematically, then presenting what you've found. Questions using this word often expect you to draw on multiple sources, rather than relying on just one.
Investigating why some places have been slower to adopt renewable energy goes further again, drawing on multiple sources to build a fuller picture, covering infrastructure, funding, and existing policy.
Determine
To determine something is to work it out using evidence or calculation, usually reaching a specific answer or conclusion through a process such as a calculation, comparison, or elimination of options, rather than simply stating what you already know.
Determining which renewable source would suit a particular location uses that same kind of evidence, weighing up factors like climate and geography to reach a clear conclusion rather than a general impression.
Words that ask you to judge or weigh up
These words want your own reasoned judgement, backed up with evidence, rather than just information.
Evaluate
Evaluating something means judging its value, quality, or effectiveness. You'll need to weigh up strengths and weaknesses, or evidence for and against, and reach a conclusion about how good, effective, or valid something is. The judgement matters less than the reasoning behind it, so show how you got there.
Evaluating a government incentive for solar panels means judging whether it has actually encouraged more households to switch, weighing that benefit against its cost.
Assess
Assessing something works similarly to evaluating, but often focuses on extent, such as how significant an impact was or how successful an approach has been. It still needs to be backed up with evidence rather than stated as opinion.
Assessing the impact of that same incentive shifts the focus slightly, looking at how significant the increase in solar adoption has actually been, rather than simply whether the incentive worked at all.
Justify
Justifying a decision, opinion, or claim means giving reasons that support it. This usually means acknowledging why someone might disagree, then explaining why your reasoning still holds up.
Justifying a call to expand that kind of incentive means acknowledging the cost involved, then explaining why the benefits are likely to outweigh it over time.
Discuss
This is one of the broadest command words you'll see. Discussing a topic means exploring it from multiple angles, setting out different perspectives or arguments, and reaching a reasoned conclusion rather than presenting only one side.
Discussing whether renewable energy can fully replace fossil fuels takes that same weighing up further, setting out the case for and against before reaching a conclusion.
Why the same word can ask for something slightly different depending on the subject
Even once you know what a word generally means, the exact expectations can shift depending on the subject you're answering it in. In a science subject, analyse often means working with data, identifying patterns or relationships in results. In English or a humanities subject, analyse is more likely to mean examining language, structure, or evidence in a text and explaining the effect it creates. Evaluate can work the same way. In maths, it might ask you to calculate a numerical answer, while in a humanities subject it's asking for a judgement backed up by evidence and reasoning.
If you're ever unsure exactly what a command word means in a specific subject, your subject outline, marking criteria, or teacher's instructions are the best place to check. They'll usually spell out exactly what's expected.
Check your states official definition
The words in this guide come from the same source your assessment tasks do, official glossaries published by Australia's state curriculum and assessment authorities. If you want to see the definitions straight from where they come from, here's where each state publishes theirs:
At the time of writing, South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT, and the Northern Territory haven't published an equivalent glossary of their own. The best part is that doesn't change much for you: the words themselves work the same way regardless of which state you're in, so this guide still applies.
Before you start writing
Identify the command word in a question before you start planning your answer, and check you understand exactly what it's asking for. Underlining or circling it as you read can help you keep sight of it once you're deep into writing. Strong content won't count for much if you've answered the wrong kind of question, so this step is worth building into how you approach every assessment task.
If you want more ways to strengthen how you approach study and assessments, head to our study section for further tips and resources.
