Sentence based queries from a user are analyzed to determine appropriate answers from an electronic database. Text in the queries is dissected to identify different phrases; the phrases in turn are matched against candidate phrases to determine best matching answers responsive to the user's question. The system and methods are useful for Internet based search engines, as well as distributed speech recognition systems such as a client-server system. The latter are typically implemented on an intranet or over the Internet based on user queries at his/her computer, a PDA, or a workstation using a speech input interface.