All terms
Evaluation
Exact Match
A strict metric that counts an answer correct only if it matches the reference exactly.
Definition
Exact match is a scoring metric that marks a prediction correct only when its text matches the reference answer exactly, usually after light normalization for case and whitespace. It is strict and unambiguous, which suits short-answer and question-answering tasks with a single right answer. Because it ignores valid paraphrases, it is often paired with softer metrics that give partial credit for overlapping words.