diff --git a/src/backend/libpq/pg_hba.conf.sample b/src/backend/libpq/pg_hba.conf.sample
index bcf6a60c74..e13c78c522 100644
--- a/src/backend/libpq/pg_hba.conf.sample
+++ b/src/backend/libpq/pg_hba.conf.sample
@@ -7,50 +7,56 @@
 #
 # This file controls: which hosts are allowed to connect, how clients
 # are authenticated, which PostgreSQL user names they can use, which
-# databases they can access.  Records take one of seven forms:
+# databases they can access.  Records take one of these forms:
 #
 # local      DATABASE  USER  METHOD  [OPTION]
 # host       DATABASE  USER  CIDR-ADDRESS  METHOD  [OPTION]
 # hostssl    DATABASE  USER  CIDR-ADDRESS  METHOD  [OPTION]
 # hostnossl  DATABASE  USER  CIDR-ADDRESS  METHOD  [OPTION]
 #
-# (The uppercase quantities should be replaced by actual values.)
+# (The uppercase items must be replaced by actual values.)
+#
 # The first field is the connection type: "local" is a Unix-domain socket,
 # "host" is either a plain or SSL-encrypted TCP/IP socket, "hostssl" is an
 # SSL-encrypted TCP/IP socket, and "hostnossl" is a plain TCP/IP socket.
-# DATABASE can be "all", "sameuser", "samegroup", a database name (or
-# a comma-separated list thereof), or a file name prefixed with "@".
-# USER can be "all", an actual user name or a group name prefixed with
-# "+" or a list containing either.
+#
+# DATABASE can be "all", "sameuser", "samegroup", a database name, or
+# a comma-separated list thereof.
+#
+# USER can be "all", a user name, a group name prefixed with "+", or
+# a comma-separated list thereof.  In both the DATABASE and USER fields
+# you can also write a file name prefixed with "@" to include names from
+# a separate file.
 #
 # CIDR-ADDRESS specifies the set of hosts the record matches.
-# It is made up of an IP address and a CIDR mask that is an integer 
-# (between 0 and 32 (IPv6) or 128(IPv6) inclusive) that specifies 
-# the number of significant bits in the mask  Also, you can use a 
-# separate IP address and netmask to specify the set of hosts.
+# It is made up of an IP address and a CIDR mask that is an integer
+# (between 0 and 32 (IPv6) or 128(IPv6) inclusive) that specifies
+# the number of significant bits in the mask.  Alternatively, you can write
+# an IP address and netmask in separate columns to specify the set of hosts.
 #
-# METHOD can be "trust", "reject", "md5", "crypt", "password", 
-# "krb4", "krb5", "ident", or "pam".  Note that "password" uses 
-# clear-text passwords; "md5" is preferred for encrypted passwords.  
-# OPTION is the ident map or the name of the PAM service.
+# METHOD can be "trust", "reject", "md5", "crypt", "password",
+# "krb4", "krb5", "ident", or "pam".  Note that "password" sends passwords
+# in clear text; "md5" is preferred since it sends encrypted passwords.
+#
+# OPTION is the ident map or the name of the PAM service, depending on METHOD.
 #
 # Database and user names containing spaces, commas, quotes and other special
-# characters can be quoted. Quoting one of the keywords "all", "sameuser" or
-# "samegroup"  makes the name lose its special character, and just match a 
+# characters must be quoted. Quoting one of the keywords "all", "sameuser" or
+# "samegroup" makes the name lose its special character, and just match a
 # database or username with that name.
 #
 # This file is read on server startup and when the postmaster receives
 # a SIGHUP signal.  If you edit the file on a running system, you have
-# to SIGHUP the postmaster for the changes to take effect, or use
-# "pg_ctl reload".
+# to SIGHUP the postmaster for the changes to take effect.  You can use
+# "pg_ctl reload" to do that.
 
 # Put your actual configuration here
 # ----------------------------------
 #
 # If you want to allow non-local connections, you need to add more
 # "host" records. In that case you will also need to make PostgreSQL listen
-# on a non-local interface via the listen_addresses configuration parameter, or
-# the -i or -h command line switches.
+# on a non-local interface via the listen_addresses configuration parameter,
+# or via the -i or -h command line switches.
 #
 
 @authcomment@
diff --git a/src/backend/libpq/pg_ident.conf.sample b/src/backend/libpq/pg_ident.conf.sample
index 4a7334c776..4019f6fef1 100644
--- a/src/backend/libpq/pg_ident.conf.sample
+++ b/src/backend/libpq/pg_ident.conf.sample
@@ -11,18 +11,19 @@
 #
 # MAPNAME  IDENT-USERNAME  PG-USERNAME
 #
-# (The uppercase quantities should be replaced by actual values.)
+# (The uppercase quantities must be replaced by actual values.)
+#
 # MAPNAME is the (otherwise freely chosen) map name that was used in
 # pg_hba.conf.  IDENT-USERNAME is the detected user name of the
-# client.  PG-USERNAME is the request PostgreSQL user name.  The
+# client.  PG-USERNAME is the requested PostgreSQL user name.  The
 # existence of a record specifies that IDENT-USERNAME may connect as
 # PG-USERNAME.  Multiple maps may be specified in this file and used
 # by pg_hba.conf.
 #
 # This file is read on server startup and when the postmaster receives
 # a SIGHUP signal.  If you edit the file on a running system, you have
-# to SIGHUP the postmaster for the changes to take effect, or use
-# "pg_ctl reload".
+# to SIGHUP the postmaster for the changes to take effect.  You can use
+# "pg_ctl reload" to do that.
 
 # Put your actual configuration here
 # ----------------------------------