A method for unifying speech user interface and graphic user interface commands includes the steps of receiving (52) user entered text via a GUI, processing (54) the user-entered text, monitoring (60) the user-entered text, adding input context (62) to the user-entered text, and, updating (74, 76, and 78) a speech recognizer with the user-entered text and semantic information. Updating the speech recognizer can include the step of accepting new text information and input context to update a speech grammar (74) and recognition vocabulary of the speech recognizer. The method can include the step of updating the GUI (72) by updating GUI directives (68) and elements (70) to maintain the GUI unified with the speech grammar. The method can further include the step of forming a window (402) enabling the display of a speech interface command as a user constructs the speech interface command using the GUI (400).