Guide
ACT BSSS verbs: what the verb in the question is asking for
The BSSS Glossary of verbs that sits in every ACT course framework — the ladder, the verbs that carry the marks, and how they map to your achievement standards.
The ACT has no end-of-year external exams — your grades come from school-based assessment in each unit, moderated across colleges, with the ACT Scaling Test on top. That makes the verbs matter more, not less: every task your teachers set is written against the course's achievement standards, and those standards are written with the Glossary of verbs the Board of Senior Secondary Studies puts in the appendix of every course framework. This guide gives you that glossary and how to read it.
Who writes the definitions
The ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies (BSSS). The same Glossary of verbs appears as an appendix in every framework — English, Science, Arts, Technologies, Physical Education, Commerce — and the BSSS says it and the Common Curriculum Elements 'provide examples of the types of thinking that students need to demonstrate in their assessment'. Because assessment is school-based, your teacher's task sheet and the unit's achievement standard are the final word on what each verb wants.
The verb ladder, low to high
- Recall — identify, select, sequence, reproduce, relate, represent, translate. A name, an order, a report, a restatement.
- Description — describe, summarise, classify, compose. Features, main points, categories.
- Reasoning — explain, demonstrate, apply, interpret, extrapolate, predict, investigate, plan, test. Reasoning and application made visible.
- Relationship — analyse, compare, contrast, examine, synthesise, manipulate. Patterns, relationships, meaning.
- Judgement — evaluate, assess, discuss, argue, justify, hypothesise, reflect, respond, create. A verdict with reasons, or an original response.
- The modifier — critically analyse: an analysis that also takes on the criticisms and the live debate around the issue. The top rung in humanities units.
The verbs that carry the marks
Captivate's paraphrases of the BSSS meanings for the verbs that appear most in ACT achievement standards and assessment tasks. The BSSS glossary is linked below rather than quoted.
| Verb | What the BSSS verb asks for (paraphrased) | What a full answer contains |
|---|---|---|
| explain | Give the reasoning behind something, or show how it is used, in enough detail to prove you understand it. | The reasoning, in order, tied to the case. Restating the fact demonstrates nothing. |
| analyse | Look closely at something to work out what it means and how its parts connect, picking out patterns and the ways elements are alike or differ. | Detail, then the pattern or relationship, then what it means. |
| evaluate | Look carefully at something and then judge how good, important or significant it is. | An examination and a verdict on merit or significance — with the criteria you judged by. |
| justify | Show that a conclusion or line of argument is correct or sensible by giving the reasons behind it. | The conclusion and the reasons and evidence that make it reasonable. |
| discuss | Write or speak about a topic in a way that brings in more than one issue, angle or idea rather than a single line. | More than one issue or idea, considered; a position for the top grade. |
| describe | Set out the features or qualities of something so a reader can picture it. | Specific features, no reasons required. |
| identify | Pick out the thing asked for and give its name. | The name. |
| compare / contrast | Compare: set two or more things side by side and note where they are alike and where they differ. Contrast: set things against each other so that the differences stand out. | Point by point, both things referred to; 'contrast' foregrounds the differences. |
| assess | Reach a judgement about how much something is worth, how well it works or how important it is. | A judgement of value with supporting evidence. |
| apply | Put a rule, method or idea to work in the specific case you are given. | The concept or method used on the case given — not described in the abstract. |
| hypothesise / predict | Hypothesise: offer a tentative explanation for a set of facts, framed so that later investigation can confirm or reject it. Predict: say what you expect to happen later, or what will follow from a given change. | A testable proposition, or an expected outcome with the reasoning behind it. |
| critically analyse | Analyse something while also engaging with the criticisms and the ongoing debate that surround it. | Your analysis placed against what others have argued — the existing debate is part of the meaning. |
Traps that cost ACT students
- Answering the verb without reading the achievement standard. In the ACT the standard is the marking scheme; the verb tells you which row of it you are being marked on.
- 'Critically analyse' with no reference to the existing debate. The BSSS sense of the term includes that debate.
- 'Explain' that restates. The BSSS sense asks for reasoning or application, not repetition.
- 'Evaluate' with no verdict. Judging merit or significance means you have to say what it is worth.
- 'Apply' answered in the abstract. 'Apply' means putting the idea to work in the specific situation given — use the case the task gives you.
- Assuming all units use the verb the same way. The glossary is shared, but each framework's achievement standards interpret it for that learning area.
Using this in Captivate
- When a question opens with a command term, a small chip appears above it. Tap it for the meaning and the depth typically expected before you start writing.
- In a timed sit, read the verb first and the marks second. Together they tell you the shape of the answer — a one-mark 'identify' is a name; a four-mark 'explain' is a chain of reasons.
- When you mark yourself against the solution, check the verb, not just the content. If the question said 'justify' and you only described, mark it down — that is exactly what the examiner does.
The full BSSS glossary of verbs
Based on the BSSS Glossary of verbs © ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies. Meanings are Captivate's paraphrases; the board's own wording is in the linked document.
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