diff --git a/chapter04/addinguser.xml b/chapter04/addinguser.xml
index b659b4841..2dba785d9 100644
--- a/chapter04/addinguser.xml
+++ b/chapter04/addinguser.xml
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@
   making a single mistake can damage or destroy a system. Therefore,
   the packages in the next two chapters are built as an unprivileged user.
   You could use your own user name, but to make it easier to set up a clean
-  working environment, create a new user called <systemitem
+  working environment, we will create a new user called <systemitem
   class="username">lfs</systemitem> as a member of a new group (also named
-  <systemitem class="groupname">lfs</systemitem>) and use this user during
+  <systemitem class="groupname">lfs</systemitem>) and log in as this user during
   the installation process. As <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem>,
   issue the following commands to add the new user:</para>
 
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs</userinput></screen>
 
   <variablelist>
-    <title>The meaning of the command line options:</title>
+    <title>This is what the command line options mean:</title>
 
     <varlistentry>
       <term><parameter>-s /bin/bash</parameter></term>
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs</userinput></screen>
       <term><parameter>-k /dev/null</parameter></term>
       <listitem>
         <para>This parameter prevents possible copying of files from a skeleton
-        directory (default is <filename class="directory">/etc/skel</filename>)
+        directory (the default is <filename class="directory">/etc/skel</filename>)
         by changing the input location to the special null device.</para>
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs</userinput></screen>
 
   </variablelist>
 
-  <para>To log in as <systemitem class="username">lfs</systemitem> (as opposed
+  <para>To enable logging in as <systemitem class="username">lfs</systemitem> (as opposed
   to switching to user <systemitem class="username">lfs</systemitem> when logged
   in as <systemitem class="username">root</systemitem>, which does not require
   the <systemitem class="username">lfs</systemitem> user to have a password),
@@ -77,16 +77,16 @@ useradd -s /bin/bash -g lfs -m -k /dev/null lfs</userinput></screen>
 <screen role="nodump"><userinput>passwd lfs</userinput></screen>
 
   <para>Grant <systemitem class="username">lfs</systemitem> full access to
-  all directories under <filename class="directory">$LFS</filename> by making
-  <systemitem class="username">lfs</systemitem> the directory owner:</para>
+  all the directories under <filename class="directory">$LFS</filename> by making
+  <systemitem class="username">lfs</systemitem> the owner:</para>
 
 <screen><userinput>chown -v lfs $LFS/{usr{,/*},lib,var,etc,bin,sbin,tools}
 case $(uname -m) in
   x86_64) chown -v lfs $LFS/lib64 ;;
 esac</userinput></screen>
 
-  <note><para>In some host systems, the following command does not complete
-  properly and suspends the login to the &lfs-user; user to the background.
+<note><para>In some host systems, the following <command>su</command> command does not complete
+  properly and suspends the login for the &lfs-user; user to the background.
   If the prompt "lfs:~$" does not appear immediately, entering the
   <command>fg</command> command will fix the issue.</para></note>
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ esac</userinput></screen>
 
   <para>The <quote><parameter>-</parameter></quote> instructs
   <command>su</command> to start a login shell as opposed to a non-login shell.
-  The difference between these two types of shells can be found in detail in
+  The difference between these two types of shells is described in detail in
   <filename>bash(1)</filename> and <command>info bash</command>.</para>
 
 </sect1>
diff --git a/chapter04/settingenviron.xml b/chapter04/settingenviron.xml
index bac551e19..e40e4a45b 100644
--- a/chapter04/settingenviron.xml
+++ b/chapter04/settingenviron.xml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ EOF</userinput></screen>
   ensuring a clean environment.</para>
 
   <para>The new instance of the shell is a <emphasis>non-login</emphasis>
-  shell, which does not read, and execute, the contents of <filename>/etc/profile</filename> or
+  shell, which does not read, and execute, the contents of the <filename>/etc/profile</filename> or
   <filename>.bash_profile</filename> files, but rather reads, and executes, the
   <filename>.bashrc</filename> file instead. Create the
   <filename>.bashrc</filename> file now:</para>
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ EOF</userinput></screen>
   <para>The <command>set +h</command> command turns off
   <command>bash</command>'s hash function. Hashing is ordinarily a useful
   feature&mdash;<command>bash</command> uses a hash table to remember the
-  full path of executable files to avoid searching the <envar>PATH</envar>
+  full path to executable files to avoid searching the <envar>PATH</envar>
   time and again to find the same executable. However, the new tools should
-  be used as soon as they are installed. By switching off the hash function,
-  the shell will always search the <envar>PATH</envar> when a program is to
+  be used as soon as they are installed. Switching off the hash function forces
+  the shell to search the <envar>PATH</envar> whenever a program is to
   be run. As such, the shell will find the newly compiled tools in
   <filename class="directory">$LFS/tools/bin</filename> as soon as they are
   available without remembering a previous version of the same program
@@ -115,10 +115,10 @@ EOF</userinput></screen>
     <varlistentry>
       <term><parameter>PATH=/usr/bin</parameter></term>
       <listitem>
-  <para>Many modern linux distributions have merged <filename
+  <para>Many modern Linux distributions have merged <filename
   class="directory">/bin</filename> and <filename
   class="directory">/usr/bin</filename>. When this is the case, the standard
-  <envar>PATH</envar> variable needs just to be set to <filename
+  <envar>PATH</envar> variable should be set to <filename
   class="directory">/usr/bin/</filename> for the <xref
   linkend="chapter-temporary-tools"/> environment. When this is not the
   case, the following line adds <filename class="directory">/bin</filename>
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ EOF</userinput></screen>
   standard <envar>PATH</envar>, the cross-compiler installed at the beginning
   of <xref linkend="chapter-cross-tools"/> is picked up by the shell
   immediately after its installation. This, combined with turning off hashing,
-  limits the risk that the compiler from the host be used instead of the
+  limits the risk that the compiler from the host is used instead of the
   cross-compiler.</para>
       </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
@@ -195,7 +195,8 @@ EOF</userinput></screen>
   </important>
 
   <para>Finally, to have the environment fully prepared for building the
-  temporary tools, source the just-created user profile:</para>
+  temporary tools, force the <command>bash</command> shell to read
+  the new user profile:</para>
 
 <screen><userinput>source ~/.bash_profile</userinput></screen>