Are you asking why one doesn't change the rules for all functions? Or are you asking why Haskell doesn't include a system of user-defined precedence and associativity for function application so that one could declare that g binds more tightly than f? I see good reasons for both questions, but I'm unsure which you mean. In both cases, it comes down to consistency of the syntax rules. In order for (f 1 g 2) to parse as (f 1) (g 2), one would have to do something surprising. It's unclear what that is: perhaps treat literals differently from variables? Somehow determine a precedence level for (f 1)? Or maybe favor shorter argument lists for grouping function application? If you have a very clear kind of grouping that you think makes sense in all cases, feel free to mention it. It seems unlikely to me, but perhaps everyone will agree, once they see it, that it is in fact better than the current parsing rules. Paul: All you'd have to do is to give the inner most function the highest precdence therefore f g x == f (g x) let f x = x^2 let g x = x`div`2 f g 4 == error while f (g 4) == 4 I'm beginning to wonder if I fully understand the right associativity rule for the -> operator. Cheers, Paul