A method (200) of building a grammar with baseforms generated dynamically from user utterances can include the steps of recording (205) a user utterance, generating (210) a baseform using the user utterance, creating or adding to (215) a grammar rule using the baseform, and binding (230) the grammar rule in a grammar document of a voice extensible markup language program. Generating a baseform can optionally include introducing a new element to VoiceXML with attributes that enable generating the baseform from a referenced recording such as the user utterance. In one embodiment, the method can be used to create (235) a phonebook and a grammar to access the phonebook by repeatedly visiting a form containing the grammar rule with attributes that enable generating the baseform from the referenced recording.