diff --git a/man2/inotify_add_watch.2 b/man2/inotify_add_watch.2
index 8c50b4042..d35df05bb 100644
--- a/man2/inotify_add_watch.2
+++ b/man2/inotify_add_watch.2
@@ -54,16 +54,14 @@ for a description of the bits that can be set in
 
 A successful call to
 .BR inotify_add_watch ()
-returns the unique watch descriptor associated with
-.I pathname
-for this inotify instance.
-If
-.I pathname
+returns a unique watch descriptor for this inotify instance,
+for the filesystem object that corresponds to
+.IR pathname .
+If the filesystem object
 was not previously being watched by this inotify instance,
 then the watch descriptor is newly allocated.
-If
-.I pathname
-was already being watched, then the descriptor
+If the filesystem object was already being watched
+(perhaps via a different link to the same object), then the descriptor
 for the existing watch is returned.
 
 The watch descriptor is returned by later