diff -r fd69a6d1b0f0 Include/token.h
--- a/Include/token.h	Wed Oct 24 23:07:16 2012 +0300
+++ b/Include/token.h	Thu Oct 25 03:03:39 2012 +0300
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
 #define AT              49	
 #define RARROW          50
 #define ELLIPSIS        51
-/* Don't forget to update the table _PyParser_TokenNames in tokenizer.c! */
+/* Don't forget to update the tables _PyParser_TokenNames and _PyParser_TokenDescs in tokenizer.c! */
 #define OP		52
 #define ERRORTOKEN	53
 #define N_TOKENS	54
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@
 
 
 PyAPI_DATA(const char *) _PyParser_TokenNames[]; /* Token names */
+PyAPI_DATA(const char *) _PyParser_TokenDescs[]; /* Token descriptions */
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyToken_OneChar(int);
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyToken_TwoChars(int, int);
 PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyToken_ThreeChars(int, int, int);
diff -r fd69a6d1b0f0 Lib/test/test_genexps.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_genexps.py	Wed Oct 24 23:07:16 2012 +0300
+++ b/Lib/test/test_genexps.py	Thu Oct 25 03:03:39 2012 +0300
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@
     >>> dict(a = i for i in range(10))
     Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
-    SyntaxError: invalid syntax
+    SyntaxError: invalid syntax - ')' expected
 
 Verify that parenthesis are required when used as a keyword argument value
 
diff -r fd69a6d1b0f0 Lib/test/test_syntax.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_syntax.py	Wed Oct 24 23:07:16 2012 +0300
+++ b/Lib/test/test_syntax.py	Thu Oct 25 03:03:39 2012 +0300
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 >>> obj.None = 1
 Traceback (most recent call last):
-SyntaxError: invalid syntax
+SyntaxError: invalid syntax - name expected
 
 >>> None = 1
 Traceback (most recent call last):
@@ -110,17 +110,17 @@
 >>> def f(x, None):
 ...     pass
 Traceback (most recent call last):
-SyntaxError: invalid syntax
+SyntaxError: invalid syntax - ')' expected
 
 >>> def f(*None):
 ...     pass
 Traceback (most recent call last):
-SyntaxError: invalid syntax
+SyntaxError: invalid syntax - ')' expected
 
 >>> def f(**None):
 ...     pass
 Traceback (most recent call last):
-SyntaxError: invalid syntax
+SyntaxError: invalid syntax - name expected
 
 
 From ast_for_funcdef():
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
 >>> def None(x):
 ...     pass
 Traceback (most recent call last):
-SyntaxError: invalid syntax
+SyntaxError: invalid syntax - name expected
 
 
 From ast_for_call():
diff -r fd69a6d1b0f0 Parser/tokenizer.c
--- a/Parser/tokenizer.c	Wed Oct 24 23:07:16 2012 +0300
+++ b/Parser/tokenizer.c	Thu Oct 25 03:03:39 2012 +0300
@@ -106,6 +106,70 @@
     "<N_TOKENS>"
 };
 
+static int _update_PyParser_TokenNames = Py_BUILD_ASSERT_EXPR(
+    Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(_PyParser_TokenNames) == N_TOKENS + 1);
+
+const char *_PyParser_TokenDescs[] = {
+    "end marker", /* ENDMARKER */
+    "name", /* "NAME", */
+    "number", /* NUMBER */
+    "string",  /* STRING" */
+    "newline", /* NEWLINE */
+    "indent", /* INDENT */
+    "dedent", /* DEDENT */
+    "'('", /* LPAR */
+    "')'", /* RPAR */
+    "'['", /* LSQB */
+    "']'", /* RSQB */
+    "':'", /* COLON */
+    "','", /* COMMA */
+    "';'", /* SEMI */
+    "'+'", /* PLUS */
+    "'-'", /* MINUS */
+    "'*'", /* STAR */
+    "'/'", /* SLASH */
+    "'|'", /* VBAR */
+    "'&'", /* AMPER */
+    "'<'", /* LESS */
+    "'>'", /* GREATER */
+    "'='", /* EQUAL */
+    "'.'", /* DOT */
+    "'%'", /* PERCENT */
+    "'{'", /* LBRACE */
+    "'}'", /* RBRACE */
+    "'=='", /* EQEQUAL */
+    "'!='", /* NOTEQUAL */
+    "'<='", /* LESSEQUAL */
+    "'>='", /* GREATEREQUAL */
+    "'~'", /* TILDE */
+    "'^'", /* CIRCUMFLEX */
+    "'<<'", /* LEFTSHIFT */
+    "'>>'", /* RIGHTSHIFT */
+    "'**'", /* DOUBLESTAR */
+    "'+='", /* PLUSEQUAL */
+    "'-='", /* MINEQUAL */
+    "'*='", /* STAREQUAL */
+    "'/='", /* SLASHEQUAL */
+    "'%='", /* PERCENTEQUAL */
+    "'&='", /* AMPEREQUAL */
+    "'|='", /* VBAREQUAL */
+    "'^='", /* CIRCUMFLEXEQUAL */
+    "'<<='", /* LEFTSHIFTEQUAL */
+    "'>>='", /* RIGHTSHIFTEQUAL */
+    "'**='", /* DOUBLESTAREQUAL */
+    "'//'", /* DOUBLESLASH */
+    "'//='", /* DOUBLESLASHEQUAL */
+    "'@'", /* AT */
+    "'->'", /* RARROW */
+    "'...'", /* ELLIPSIS */
+    /* This table must match the #defines in token.h! */
+    "OP", /* OP */
+    "<ERRORTOKEN>", /* <ERRORTOKEN> */
+    "<N_TOKENS>" /* <N_TOKENS */
+};
+
+static int _update_PyParser_TokenDescs = Py_BUILD_ASSERT_EXPR(
+    Py_ARRAY_LENGTH(_PyParser_TokenDescs) == N_TOKENS + 1);
 
 /* Create and initialize a new tok_state structure */
 
diff -r fd69a6d1b0f0 Python/pythonrun.c
--- a/Python/pythonrun.c	Wed Oct 24 23:07:16 2012 +0300
+++ b/Python/pythonrun.c	Thu Oct 25 03:03:39 2012 +0300
@@ -2223,6 +2223,10 @@
         else {
             errtype = PyExc_SyntaxError;
             msg = "invalid syntax";
+            if (err->expected != -1)
+                msg_obj = PyUnicode_FromFormat(
+                        "invalid syntax - %s expected",
+                        _PyParser_TokenDescs[err->expected]);
         }
         break;
     case E_TOKEN: