Verbs

This is perhaps the most essential yet most commonly ignored part of the syllabus. Many books
will give you a generalised idea of what to do e.g. evaluate – “Make a judgement based on
criteria”. For a 7 mark question this really doesn’t tell the student a lot on how to go about
answering this question. Instead below is given a scaffold of how to go about answering the
various verbs you may see-

Identify/Outline Describe Explain Compare/ Discuss Assess Evaluate

contrast

Often this requires An Cause identify Identify Identify Identify

nothing more than extended
a one word or one version of Effect describe Describe Describe Describe
line answer for 1 outline provide
or 2 marks giving more specific
information example
for 3/4 Need to Similarities Advantages Advantages Advantages
marks write about
cause and Differences Disadvantages Disadvantages Disadvantages
effect and Link Judgement Criteria
link them
(can be done in a Judgement
table)

Throughout the course when encountered by such verbs, we will examine exact layouts

● Timing

The rule specifically states 1.8 minutes per mark. Follow this and it will make sure you use all of
your time wisely and effectively. In fact I was so pedantic about this that I even had a stop watch
in my exam and before doing every question I would multiply the value of the question (eg. 5
marks) by 1.8 to understand how long I could write for. There are too many students who finish
chemistry exams 20-30 minutes early (or even more) and claim the exam was too short. The
exam is not too short, they simply haven’t written enough!