We parametrize in a model-independent way possible departures from the minimal standard model predictions in the matter sector. We only assume the symmetry breaking pattern of the standard model and that new particles are sufficiently heavy so that the symmetry is nonlinearly realized. Models with dynamical symmetry breaking are generically of this type. We review in effective theory language to what extent the simplest models of dynamical breaking are actually constrained and the assumptions going into the comparison with experiment. Dynamical symmetry breaking models can be approximated at intermediate energies by four-fermion operators. We present a complete classification of the latter when new particles appear in the usual representations of the SU ( 2 ) L × SU ( 3 ) c group as well as a partial classification in the general case. We discuss the accuracy of the four-fermion description by matching to a simple “fundamental” theory. The coefficients of the effective Lagrangian in the matter sector for dynamical symmetry breaking models (expressed in terms of the coefficients of the four-quark operators) are then compared to those of models with elementary scalars (such as the minimal standard model). Contrary to a somewhat widespread belief, we see that the sign of the vertex corrections is not fixed in dynamical symmetry breaking models. This work provides the theoretical tools required to analyze, in a rather general setting, constraints on the matter sector of the standard model.