To simplify the description of normalization we assume that a set of functional depen- dencies is given for each relation in the worked examples and that each relation has a de- signated primary key. In other words, it is essential that the meaning of the attributes and their relationships is well understood before beginning the process of normalization. This information is fundamental to normalization and is used to test whether a relation is in a particular normal form. In Section 13.6 we begin by describing First Normal Form (1NF). In Sections 13.7 and 13.8 we describe Second Normal Form (2NF) and Third Normal
Forms (3NF) based on the primary key of a relation and then present a more general definition of each in Section 13.9. The more general definitions of 2NF and 3NF take into account all candidate keys of a relation rather than just the primary key.