diff --git a/block/quorum.c b/block/quorum.c
index b10fc2089e..4b08a199b7 100644
--- a/block/quorum.c
+++ b/block/quorum.c
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ static int quorum_valid_threshold(int threshold, int num_children, Error **errp)
 
     if (threshold < 1) {
         error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE,
-                   "vote-threshold", "value >= 1");
+                   "vote-threshold", "a value >= 1");
         return -ERANGE;
     }
 
diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index d05a8740f4..6c7be7c522 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -2991,7 +2991,7 @@ static void blockdev_mirror_common(const char *job_id, BlockDriverState *bs,
     }
     if (granularity & (granularity - 1)) {
         error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "granularity",
-                   "power of 2");
+                   "a power of 2");
         return;
     }
 
diff --git a/chardev/char.c b/chardev/char.c
index aa4282164a..a9b8c5a9aa 100644
--- a/chardev/char.c
+++ b/chardev/char.c
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ static const ChardevClass *char_get_class(const char *driver, Error **errp)
 
     if (object_class_is_abstract(oc)) {
         error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "driver",
-                   "abstract device type");
+                   "an abstract device type");
         return NULL;
     }
 
diff --git a/hw/core/qdev-properties-system.c b/hw/core/qdev-properties-system.c
index 9d80a07d26..8912fb4e9c 100644
--- a/hw/core/qdev-properties-system.c
+++ b/hw/core/qdev-properties-system.c
@@ -776,7 +776,7 @@ static void set_pci_devfn(Object *obj, Visitor *v, const char *name,
         }
         if (value < -1 || value > 255) {
             error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE,
-                       name ? name : "null", "pci_devfn");
+                       name ? name : "null", "a value between -1 and 255");
             return;
         }
         *ptr = value;
diff --git a/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c b/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c
index 301089eaea..31e5b589b7 100644
--- a/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c
+++ b/softmmu/qdev-monitor.c
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ static DeviceClass *qdev_get_device_class(const char **driver, Error **errp)
 
     if (object_class_is_abstract(oc)) {
         error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "driver",
-                   "non-abstract device type");
+                   "a non-abstract device type");
         return NULL;
     }
 
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ static DeviceClass *qdev_get_device_class(const char **driver, Error **errp)
     if (!dc->user_creatable ||
         (qdev_hotplug && !dc->hotpluggable)) {
         error_setg(errp, QERR_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE, "driver",
-                   "pluggable device type");
+                   "a pluggable device type");
         return NULL;
     }