# Query with synonym doesn't work as expected **URL:** \ **Category:** Elasticsearch\ **Created:** [March 21, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009 "2016-03-21T15:25:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ash85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@ash85](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ash85)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009/1 "2016-03-21T15:25:13Z")
hello, here some sample data: settings and mappings: `{ "settings":{ "analysis":{ "filter":{ "my_synonym_filter":{ "type":"synonym", "synonyms": ["synonym0 => owl shirt"] } }, "analyzer":{ "test_analyzer":{ "type":"custom", "tokenizer":"standard", "filter":["my_synonym_filter"] } } } }, "mappings":{ "test":{ "properties":{ "id":{ "type":"string", "index":"not_analyzed" }, "field0":{ "type":"string", "index":"analyzed" }, "field1":{ "type":"string", "index":"analyzed" }, "field2":{ "type":"string", "index":"analyzed" } } } } }` data: `{"index":{"_type":"test","_id":"0"}} {"field0":"product 0","field1":"","field2":"owl,shirt"} {"index":{"_type":"test","_id":"1"}} {"field0":"product 1","field1":"shirt","field2":"owl"} {"index":{"_type":"test","_id":"2"}} {"field0":"product 2","field1":"shirt","field2":"horse"} {"index":{"_type":"test","_id":"3"}} {"field0":"product 3","field1":"longsleeve","field2":"penguin"}` when i search like this: `POST /syntest/test/_search?pretty { "query":{ "query_string":{ "query":"shirt owl", "default_operator":"AND", "analyzer":"test_analyzer", "fields":["field1", "field2"] } } }` i get as aspected all results which contains **shirt** and **owl** in fields **field1** and **field2** : `{ "took": 7, "timed_out": false, "_shards": { "total": 5, "successful": 5, "failed": 0 }, "hits": { "total": 2, "max_score": 0.13316044, "hits": [{ "_index": "syntest", "_type": "test", "_id": "1", "_score": 0.13316044, "_source": { "field0": "product 1", "field1": "shirt", "field2": "owl" } }, { "_index": "syntest", "_type": "test", "_id": "0", "_score": 0.08322528, "_source": { "field0": "product 0", "field1": "", "field2": "owl,shirt" } }] } }` but when i search with the defined synonym **synonym0** i get just one result: `POST /syntest/test/_search?pretty { "query":{ "query_string":{ "query":"synonym0", "default_operator":"AND", "analyzer":"test_analyzer", "fields":["field1", "field2"] } } }` `{ "took": 6, "timed_out": false, "_shards": { "total": 5, "successful": 5, "failed": 0 }, "hits": { "total": 1, "max_score": 0.08322528, "hits": [{ "_index": "syntest", "_type": "test", "_id": "0", "_score": 0.08322528, "_source": { "field0": "product 0", "field1": "", "field2": "owl,shirt" } }] } }` what is the problem? tested with elasticsearch 2.2. tanks ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Harwood](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/mark_harwood/32/10538_2.png) [@Mark\_Harwood](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Mark_Harwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009/2 "2016-03-21T15:40:04Z")
Check out the `_explain` API to debug search issues. Here I use it to test why doc id #1 fails: ``` POST /test/test/1/_explain { "query": { "query_string": { "query": "synonym0", "default_operator": "AND", "analyzer": "test_analyzer", "fields": [ "field1", "field2" ] } } } ``` The result (partially shown here) shows why this fails for doc 1: ``` { "_index": "test", "_type": "test", "_id": "1", "matched": false, "explanation": { "value": 0, "description": "Failure to meet condition(s) of required/prohibited clause(s)", "details": [ { "value": 0, "description": "no match on required clause (((+field1:owl +field1:shirt) | (+field2:owl +field2:shirt)))", ... }... ] } } ``` It is testing for both the words in one field. Instead of `query_string` consider using the `match` query which offers more control over matching options for multiple fields - cross\_fields, best\_fields etc. Cheers Mark ---
**Author:** ![ash85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@ash85](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ash85)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 9:12am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009/3 "2016-03-22T09:12:15Z")
hello mark, thanks for the reply. now i tested with multi\_match + cross\_fields: `POST /syntest/test/_search { "query": { "multi_match": { "query": "owl shirt", "type": "cross_fields", "fields": ["field0", "field1", "field2"], "operator": "AND" } } }` this works as expected: `{ "took": 12, "timed_out": false, "_shards": { "total": 5, "successful": 5, "failed": 0 }, "hits": { "total": 2, "max_score": 0.8838835, "hits": [{ "_index": "syntest", "_type": "test", "_id": "0", "_score": 0.8838835, "_source": { "field0": "product 0", "field1": "", "field2": "owl,shirt" } }, { "_index": "syntest", "_type": "test", "_id": "1", "_score": 0.13316044, "_source": { "field0": "product 1", "field1": "shirt", "field2": "owl" } }] } }` but with the synonym it returns null: `POST /syntest/test/_search { "query": { "multi_match": { "query": "synonym0", "type": "cross_fields", "fields": ["field0", "field1", "field2"], "operator": "AND" } } }` `{ "took": 4, "timed_out": false, "_shards": { "total": 5, "successful": 5, "failed": 0 }, "hits": { "total": 0, "max_score": null, "hits": [] } }` explain: `... "explanation": { "value": 0, "description": "Failure to meet condition(s) of required/prohibited clause(s)", "details": [ { "value": 0, "description": "no match on required clause ((field2:synonym0 | field1:synonym0 | field0:synonym0))", ...` any idea? ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Harwood](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/mark_harwood/32/10538_2.png) [@Mark\_Harwood](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/Mark_Harwood)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 9:24am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009/4 "2016-03-22T09:24:36Z")
Looks like the wrong analyzer. Given all the fields share a common analyzer I'm not sure why this would be the case. Try set the "analyzer" parameter on the multi\_match expression to force the choice of analyzer. ---
**Author:** ![ash85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@ash85](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/ash85)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 9:38am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009/5 "2016-03-22T09:38:23Z")
oh dear! that's my fault. i forget to set the analyzer parameter. thank you ---
**Author:** ![vaniaravinda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7993a0/32.png) [@vaniaravinda](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/vaniaravinda)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009/6 "2016-06-07T04:57:34Z")
Hi, Synonym search is working sometimes and not working sometimes. I'm not able to find the root cause of that. I'm using synonym at search analyzer. Earlier what all the synonym related records got score is different from now. Can someone help me in understanding the issue exactly as soon as possible. Thanks, @vaniaravinda ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/query-with-synonym-doesnt-work-as-expected/45009/7 "2017-07-05T22:45:48Z")