diff --git a/base/promotion.jl b/base/promotion.jl
index 7faef91b7683c..98efd35b044a3 100644
--- a/base/promotion.jl
+++ b/base/promotion.jl
@@ -253,8 +253,8 @@ end
 
 Exponentiation operator. If `x` is a matrix, computes matrix exponentiation.
 
-If `y` is an `Int` literal (e.g. `x^2` or `x^-3`), the Julia code
-`x^y` is transformed to `x^Val{y}`, to enable compile-time
+If `y` is an `Int` literal (e.g. `2` in `x^2` or `-3` in `x^-3`), the Julia code
+`x^y` is transformed by the compiler to `x^Val{y}`, to enable compile-time
 specialization on the value of the exponent.  (As a default fallback,
 however, `x^Val{y}` simply calls the `^(x,y)` function.)