diff --git a/chapter08/binutils.xml b/chapter08/binutils.xml
index c969eab00..28d44a9a0 100644
--- a/chapter08/binutils.xml
+++ b/chapter08/binutils.xml
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ cd       build</userinput></screen>
       <varlistentry>
         <term><parameter>--enable-gold</parameter></term>
         <listitem>
-          <para>Build the gold linker and install it as ld.gold (along side the
+          <para>Build the gold linker and install it as ld.gold (alongside the
           default linker).</para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ cd       build</userinput></screen>
       <varlistentry>
         <term><parameter>--with-system-zlib</parameter></term>
         <listitem>
-          <para>Use the installed zlib library rather than building the
+          <para>Use the installed zlib library instead of building the
           included version.</para>
         </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ cd       build</userinput></screen>
           a custom system, this target-specific directory in <filename
           class="directory">/usr</filename> is not required. <filename
           class="directory">$(exec_prefix)/$(target_alias)</filename> would be
-          used if the system was used to cross-compile (for example, compiling a
+          used if the system were used to cross-compile (for example, compiling a
           package on an Intel machine that generates code that can be executed
           on PowerPC machines).</para>
         </listitem>
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ cd       build</userinput></screen>
 
 <screen><userinput remap="test">grep '^FAIL:' $(find -name '*.log')</userinput></screen>
 
-    <para>Twelve tests fail in the gold testsuite when the
+    <para>Twelve tests fail in the gold test suite when the
     <option>--enable-default-pie</option> and
     <option>--enable-default-ssp</option> options are passed to GCC.
     <!-- Caused by egrep deprecation.  Note that we don't "patch" temp grep.
@@ -179,8 +179,8 @@ cd       build</userinput></screen>
     some gas tests may fail if parallel jobs are used.  If you are not
     assured of the correctness of gas, invoke
     <command>make check-gas</command> to run gas testsuite separately and
-    all tests should pass. Three gprofng tests result
-    <literal>ERROR</literal> and they are counted as
+    all tests should pass. Three gprofng tests yield the 
+    <literal>ERROR</literal> result, and they are counted as
     <literal>UNRESOLVED</literal> in the summary.</para>
 
     <para>Install the package:</para>
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ rm -fv /usr/share/man/man1/gprofng.1</userinput></screen>
       <varlistentry id="elfedit">
         <term><command>elfedit</command></term>
         <listitem>
-          <para>Updates the ELF header of ELF files</para>
+          <para>Updates the ELF headers of ELF files</para>
           <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils elfedit">
             <primary sortas="b-elfedit">elfedit</primary>
           </indexterm>
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ rm -fv /usr/share/man/man1/gprofng.1</userinput></screen>
       <varlistentry id="gprofng">
         <term><command>gprofng</command></term>
         <listitem>
-          <para>Gather and analyze performance data</para>
+          <para>Gathers and analyzes performance data</para>
           <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils gprofng">
             <primary sortas="b-gprofng">gprofng</primary>
           </indexterm>
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ rm -fv /usr/share/man/man1/gprofng.1</userinput></screen>
       <varlistentry id="ld.bfd">
         <term><command>ld.bfd</command></term>
         <listitem>
-          <para>Hard link to <command>ld</command></para>
+          <para>A hard link to <command>ld</command></para>
           <indexterm zone="ch-system-binutils ld.bfd">
             <primary sortas="b-ld.bfd">ld.bfd</primary>
           </indexterm>