This is an NLP problem and I was wondering how I should proceed.
How difficult is the problem? Could I replace the word with synonyms and check that the grammar is correct?
This is an NLP problem and I was wondering how I should proceed.
How difficult is the problem? Could I replace the word with synonyms and check that the grammar is correct?
Replacing words with synonyms is probably the first thing to try, but be careful not to miss multiple words expressions and idioms. Also, make sure you choose a synonym with the same part of speech.
they look for a good solution < ! > they view/stare/... for a good solution
they work hard < ! > they job/task/… hard
More complicated rephrasing is only possible if you use some level of grammatical analysis. You should at least recognize constituents within a sentence.
Here are some examples for rephrasing which take into consideration the grammatical structure of the sentence:
the dog ate my homework < > my homework was eaten by the dog (passivisation)
the bone of the dog was stolen < > the dog’s bone was stolen (possessive rephrasing)
she sent him a letter < > she sent a letter to him (verb complements replacing)
my name is Bond < > Bond is my name (copular)
the cat ate the cake < > it was the cat who ate the cake (cleft)
Have a look at Contextors API and its Voice Conjugator