Stop words and query conditions

Stop words are not removed from queries when certain conditions are met. In the following examples, the is a stop word and cat is not a stop word.

Table 1. When stop words are not removed from queries
Stop words are not removed	Example
In Boolean expressions when the stop word is explicitly joined with an operator	the AND cat the OR cat the NOT cat
In phrases or quotation marks	"the cat" "the" cat
In wildcard expressions	the* cat the? cat *the cat \?the cat
In all uppercase letters	THE cat
When defined as an optional term	%the cat
When adjacent to a special character	the.cat the. cat _the cat
When a query contains only stop words (In this example, to, be, and you are stop words.) to be you	to be you
When a query contains a variation of a stop word (In this example, can is a stop word.)	tin cans