Abstract: Techniques for determining an answer that relates to a user question when a system is unable to determine an exact answer to the user question are described. When the system receives a user question, the system may parse the user question to determine the words making up the question. The system may then process the words against an indexed dictionary of words to piece the words of the question together to from interpretations of the different possible relationships that may exist between the words. The system may attempt to determine an exact answer to the user question using the indexed words. If the system determines an exact answer, the system may output the answer to the querying user. If the system is unable to determine an exact answer, the system may navigate through a ontology of relationships within a knowledge base to determine an answer that is related to the user question but that may not directly answer the user question.