Due to the display area and resource restrictions of small mobile devices, currently, most reported database query systems developed for them are only offering a small set of pre-determined queries that can be posed by users. This not only limits the usage of such systems in their own domain of application, it also prevents them from being used to query other databases. Thus, the abilities to support different query types as well as unplanned queries are essential for these systems in order to make them generic. Hence, this paper presents a new free-form database query language that is suitable for these devices. The language which is used as the query formulation method in a database query system prototype for WAPenabled mobile phones has been found to be effective based on results from usability tests. © 2009 IEEE.