Techniques for processing a natural language query are provided. The techniques include obtaining a set of statistics representing a contextual significance of a set of words in a data model for a data set. Next, the set of statistics is used to match a set of semantic intents for a natural language query of the data set to one or more data elements in the data model. The data element(s) and the data set are then to generate a result of the natural language query, and the result is provided in a response to the natural language query.