Explain your Anki cards: ask “why” while you review

Understanding vs memorizing

Memorizing isn’t bad. Plenty of cards are plain facts, like a word, a date or a keyboard shortcut, and don’t need a reason at all. The trouble starts when a card depends on an idea and you only learned its wording. Those are the cards that slip when the question changes; see memorized without understanding.

When to ask why

• You got it wrong, and the right answer surprises you.
• You got it right, but you guessed.
• The answer feels arbitrary, so there’s nothing to hang it on.
• Two cards feel like the same card.
• A card is new and depends on an idea, not just a fact.

Skip it on cards you know cold and on plain facts. If every card turns into a lecture, reviews get slow, and slow reviews are the ones that get skipped.

How to ask why without slowing down

1. Answer the card first. Try to recall before you look anything up, so the review still does its job.
2. Ask one question. “Why is this true?” or “How is this different from that?” is enough.
3. Keep the answer to one line. Put it in the card’s Extra or Back Extra field, so it shows after you flip, never on the front.
4. Fix the card if it needs it. If the explanation shows the card is badly worded, rewrite it. See why some cards keep failing.
5. Move on. If the topic needs more than a line, note it and come back to your notes after the session.

Questions worth asking

Asking “why” and “how” about a fact is a long-standing study technique, sometimes called elaborative interrogation. These prompts cover most cards:

• Why is this true?The mechanism or reason behind the answer.
• What would change if…?Flip one condition and predict the result.
• How is it different from…?The one feature that separates two look-alikes.
• What’s an example?A concrete case makes an abstract rule easier to use.
• Can you say it more simply?If an explanation was too dense, ask again in plainer words.
• What’s it like?An analogy maps the idea onto something you already know.

The Anki-GPT review panel

Anki-GPT adds an explanation panel beside the card you’re reviewing in desktop Anki. Click Explain, or press Ctrl+Shift+G, and it explains the current card. There’s nothing to copy or paste.

Pick a depth

• Simple: the main idea in plain English.
• Exam: the clue, the reasoning, and a trap to avoid.
• Deep: the mechanism and how the ideas connect.

Then follow up

• Simpler
• Analogy
• Quiz me
• Ask

Under every answer, Simpler explains it again in plainer words, Analogy compares it to something familiar, Quiz me turns it into a question for you, and Ask takes your own question. Each uses one AI answer.

On the answer side you can point it at the Front or Back instead of Auto. It works with text cards, image cards and diagrams, up to three images per card. AI can make mistakes, so check important facts against your sources.

Explain and follow-ups send the card content (text, fields and tags), attached images, your question, and relevant conversation and review context to the hosted service. Nothing is sent until you ask. What is sent.

Keep the explanation on the card

An explanation is most useful where you’ll see it next time. Under any answer, choose Add to card, pick a field (Anki-GPT suggests one such as Extra, Back Extra or Notes), check the preview and confirm. If the note already has a pinned explanation, the button says Replace in card.

The explanation becomes part of your note, so after you sync it shows on AnkiMobile and AnkiDroid wherever that field appears on your card template. Pinning uses no AI answer, and Edit → Undo reverses it.

Two other ways to keep it: Make card turns an explanation into one to three new cards that you edit before adding, and Save to Study keeps it in the add-on for practice with the answer hidden. Study ratings never change your Anki schedule.

FAQ