The range documentation is not PEP-8 compatible:

>>> range.__doc__.splitlines()[-1]
'Returns a virtual sequence of numbers from start to stop by step.'
>>> range.__reversed__.__doc__
'Returns a reverse iterator.'
>>> range.index.__doc__.splitlines()[-1]
'Raises ValueError if the value is not present.'

They should have been 'Return...' and 'Raise...'. Patch is attached

PEP8 just says "PEP 257 describes good docstring conventions."
PEP 257 is what says '''It [the one line docstring] prescribes the function or method's effect as a command ("Do this", "Return that"), not as a description; e.g. don't write "Returns the pathname ...". '''

I strongly prefer the rule, but we do not usually patch purely for PEP8 compliance. However, a docstring patch is safer than a code patch.

I asked on py-dev whether to do this.
#19068 and #19069 are similar issues for complex and float docstrings.

New changeset 5135a431f7b3 by Ezio Melotti in branch '3.3':
#19067: use imperative mood in range object docstrings.  Patch by Marco Buttu.
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/5135a431f7b3

New changeset b2c752eff474 by Ezio Melotti in branch 'default':
#19067: merge with 3.3.
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/b2c752eff474

Fixed, thanks for the patch!