# form (10-form.com)

A form is a paper or a screen you fill out with your information. People say form when they mean a job application, a tax document, or a website page with boxes to type in.

## What a model may hear
- HTML web form (web development): generate markup with input fields, labels, and submit buttons, or validate field types like email and password
- data structure or schema (databases and APIs): enforce a fixed shape of data, reject records with missing or extra fields
- mathematical formula (mathematics and physics): interpret as an equation to solve, manipulate, or simplify symbolically
- mold or cast (manufacturing and 3D printing): treat as a physical shape to generate or fabricate
- verb to create (general English): understand as the action of making or shaping something

## Where people and models part ways
- Says: "Fill out this form"
  Means: complete the document with my details
  May be taken as: generate empty HTML form code instead of helping with the content
  Say instead: "Help me answer the questions on this job application"
- Says: "The form is broken"
  Means: I cannot submit my information
  May be taken as: debug HTML code the user never wrote, or assume a server error
  Say instead: "When I click submit on this website, nothing happens"
- Says: "Send me the form"
  Means: Email me the PDF or link
  May be taken as: generate a new blank form from scratch instead of locating an existing file
  Say instead: "Email me the link to the tax document I started yesterday"
- Says: "Form a plan"
  Means: Come up with a strategy
  May be taken as: drift into mathematical or physical senses of forming shapes
  Say instead: "Help me make a step-by-step plan"

## Tips
- Say paper form or web form to signal which kind you mean
- Mention the website name or app when a form is online
- Say fill out when you want help with answers, not code
- Say create a form only when you want the model to build one
- Add as a document when you mean a file, not a data structure

## Often confused with
- format: rules for how something looks, not a blank sheet to fill
- forum: a place for discussion, not for entering data
- forum: a place for discussion, not for entering data
- field: one single box in a form, not the whole page
- table: data already in rows, not waiting to be entered
- survey: a form meant for opinions, not general documents
- template: a reusable starting point, not always with input fields