diff --git a/compiler.rst b/compiler.rst
--- a/compiler.rst
+++ b/compiler.rst
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@
 The grammar file for Python can be found in Grammar/Grammar with the
 numeric value of grammar rules are stored in Include/graminit.h.  The
 numeric values for types of tokens (literal tokens, such as ``:``,
-numbers, etc.) are kept in Include/token.h).  The parse tree made up of
-``node *`` structs (as defined in Include/node.h).
+numbers, etc.) are kept in Include/token.h).  The parse tree is made up
+of ``node *`` structs (as defined in Include/node.h).
 
 Querying data from the node structs can be done with the following
 macros (which are all defined in Include/node.h):
@@ -65,14 +65,14 @@
         retrieve the line number of the source code that led to the
         creation of the parse rule; defined in Python/ast.c
 
-To tie all of this example, consider the rule for 'while'::
+For example, consider the rule for 'while'::
 
   while_stmt: 'while' test ':' suite ['else' ':' suite]
 
 The node representing this will have ``TYPE(node) == while_stmt`` and
-the number of children can be 4 or 7 depending on if there is an 'else'
-statement.  To access what should be the first ':' and require it be an
-actual ':' token, `(REQ(CHILD(node, 2), COLON)``.
+the number of children can be 4 or 7 depending on whether there is an
+'else' statement.  ``(REQ(CHILD(node, 2), COLON)`` can be used to access
+what should be the first ``:`` and require it be an actual ``:`` token.
 
 
 Abstract Syntax Trees (AST)