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Unlock This CourseEvery question begins with a command word. It tells you what kind of answer the examiner wants. Two students can know the same economics, but the one who obeys the command word scores more. Cambridge says command words and their meanings help candidates know what is expected from them, and that the use of a command word relates to the subject context.
Remember the papers from the last lesson, How the Exams Work and What Examiners Reward. Part (a) of a Section B question is short and part (d) is long. The command word tells you how much to write.
Key terms:
| Command word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Analyse | Examine in detail to show meaning, identify elements and the relationship between them |
| Calculate | Work out from given facts, figures or information |
| Define | Give precise meaning |
| Describe | State the points of a topic / give characteristics and main features |
| Discuss | Write about issue(s) or topic(s) in depth in a structured way |
| Explain | Set out purposes or reasons / make the relationships between things clear / say why and/or how and support with relevant evidence |
| Give | Produce an answer from a given source or recall/memory |
| Identify | Name / select / recognise |
| State | Express in clear terms |
Here is what each one looks like in an economics answer.
Identify: "Identify one factor of production." Answer: land. Just name it.
State: "State one function of money." Answer: a medium of exchange. One clear statement.
Give: "Give one example of a fixed cost." Answer: factory rent. Recall it or pick it from the source.
Define: "Define opportunity cost." Answer: the next best alternative given up. Use the exact economic meaning.
Calculate: "Calculate the budget deficit." Revenue $50bn, spending $58bn, so $58bn minus $50bn is a deficit of $8bn. Show the working and the unit.
Describe: say what a table or graph shows, such as "inflation rose each year from 2% to 6%". Features, not reasons.
Explain: say why or how, with reasons.
Analyse: break an idea into its parts and show how they connect.
Discuss: cover the issue in depth, in a structured way.
For explain and analyse, one fact is not enough. A fact earns its mark when it is developed. This means you show how one thing leads to the next. Use link words such as because, which means, so and as a result.
Explain why a subsidy to farmers may lower the price of rice.
Weak: "Farmers get money, so rice is cheaper." This is a jump with no steps.
Developed: "A subsidy lowers farmers' costs of production, so they are willing to supply more rice at every price. This means supply increases. As a result there is a surplus at the old price, so the price falls to a new, lower equilibrium."
Each sentence picks up the end of the one before. This is the "relationship between elements" in the meaning of analyse.
Use a diagram when it makes your answer clearer, especially for changes in supply or demand. Draw it like this:
Then refer to the diagram in your writing, for example "the supply curve shifts from S to S1". A diagram with no words does not explain anything.
Discuss questions are in-depth and structured. In Section B part (d), this means two sides, each developed, then a conclusion that gives a reason. Plan it for one minute before you write. Here is a model plan.
Question: Discuss whether a national minimum wage helps low-paid workers in the country of Tolmeria.
Notice that the conclusion is not "there are good and bad points". It makes a judgement and gives the reason for it. That is what "justified" means.
Brannova is a country that sells coffee to other countries. Its currency is the bruno. The bruno is worth $0.50. Then the exchange rate falls, and the bruno is worth $0.40.
(a) Define 'depreciation' of a currency. [2 marks]
(b) Calculate the dollar price of a bag of coffee that costs 20 brunos, before and after the fall. [2 marks]
(c) Analyse how the fall in the exchange rate may affect Brannova's coffee exports. [4 marks]
(a) A fall in the value of one currency (1) in terms of another currency, in a floating exchange rate system (1).
(b) Before: 20 × $0.50 = $10 (1). After: 20 × $0.40 = $8 (1).
(c) The dollar price of coffee falls from $10 to $8 (1), so coffee becomes cheaper for foreign buyers (1). This means the quantity demanded abroad is likely to rise (1), so Brannova may export more coffee (1).
Check the marks next to each command word. A 2-mark calculate needs working for both prices, and a 4-mark analyse needs four linked steps, not four separate facts.