diff --git a/packages/cli/lib/cli.js b/packages/cli/lib/cli.js
index a751da00..af2094ad 100644
--- a/packages/cli/lib/cli.js
+++ b/packages/cli/lib/cli.js
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ program
 
 const runCommand = program
   .command('run <filename>')
-  .option('--output [filename]', 'output file', '-')
+  .option('--output [filename]', 'Output file', '-')
   .option('--pipeline [iri]', 'IRI of the pipeline description')
   .action(async (filename, options) => {
     const combinedOptions = combine(options)
diff --git a/packages/cli/lib/cli/commonOptions.js b/packages/cli/lib/cli/commonOptions.js
index 1cdbf080..0330a159 100644
--- a/packages/cli/lib/cli/commonOptions.js
+++ b/packages/cli/lib/cli/commonOptions.js
@@ -15,13 +15,13 @@ function setVariable(str, all) {
   return all.set(key, value)
 }
 
-export const variable = new Option('--variable <name=value>', 'variable key value pairs')
+export const variable = new Option('--variable <name=value>', 'Variable key/value pairs')
   .default(new Map())
   .argParser(setVariable)
 
 export const variableAll = new Option('--variable-all', 'Import all environment variables')
 
-export const verbose = new Option('-v, --verbose', 'enable diagnostic console output')
+export const verbose = new Option('-v, --verbose', 'Enable diagnostic console output')
   .default(0)
   .argParser((v, total) => ++total)