diff --git a/doc_src/language.rst b/doc_src/language.rst
index b93d7efc5..86d646aec 100644
--- a/doc_src/language.rst
+++ b/doc_src/language.rst
@@ -160,14 +160,17 @@ Most programs use three input/output (I/O) streams:
 
 Each stream has a number called the file descriptor (FD): 0 for stdin, 1 for stdout, and 2 for stderr.
 
-The destination of a stream can be changed using something called *redirection*. For example, ``echo hello > output.txt``, redirects the standard output of the ``echo`` command to a text file.
+A stream's destination may be changed with a *redirection*. For example, ``echo hello > output.txt``, redirects the standard output of the ``echo`` command to a text file.
 
-- To read standard input from a file, use ``<SOURCE_FILE``.
-- To write standard output to a file, use ``>DESTINATION``.
-- To write standard error to a file, use ``2>DESTINATION``. [#]_
-- To append standard output to a file, use ``>>DESTINATION_FILE``.
-- To append standard error to a file, use ``2>>DESTINATION_FILE``.
-- To not overwrite ("clobber") an existing file, use ``>?DESTINATION`` or ``2>?DESTINATION``. This is known as the "noclobber" redirection.
+- ``<SOURCE_FILE`` reads standard input from a file.
+- ``>DESTINATION`` writes standard output to a file.
+- ``2>DESTINATION`` writes standard error to a file. [#]_
+- ``>>DESTINATION`` appends standard output to a file.
+- ``2>>DESTINATION`` appends standard error to a file.
+- ``>?DESTINATION`` writes standard output to a file, or prints an error if the file already exists.
+- ``2>?DESTINATION`` writes standard error to a file, or prints an error if the file already exists.
+
+Append and noclobber combined (like ``>>?``) behaves the same as ``>?``, because new files are initially empty.
 
 ``DESTINATION`` can be one of the following: