diff --git a/passes/cmds/show.cc b/passes/cmds/show.cc
index 7cda4400..81321665 100644
--- a/passes/cmds/show.cc
+++ b/passes/cmds/show.cc
@@ -590,6 +590,10 @@ struct ShowPass : public Pass {
 		log("        inputs or outputs. This option can be used multiple times to specify\n");
 		log("        more than one library.\n");
 		log("\n");
+		log("        note: in most cases it is better to load the library before calling\n");
+		log("        show with 'read_verilog -lib <filename>'. it is also possible to\n");
+		log("        load liberty files with 'read_liberty -lib <filename>'.\n");
+		log("\n");
 		log("    -prefix <prefix>\n");
 		log("        generate <prefix>.* instead of ~/.yosys_show.*\n");
 		log("\n");
diff --git a/passes/hierarchy/hierarchy.cc b/passes/hierarchy/hierarchy.cc
index 155d4e46..a393343d 100644
--- a/passes/hierarchy/hierarchy.cc
+++ b/passes/hierarchy/hierarchy.cc
@@ -352,7 +352,7 @@ struct HierarchyPass : public Pass {
 		log("\n");
 		log("    -purge_lib\n");
 		log("        by default the hierarchy command will not remove library (blackbox)\n");
-		log("        module. use this options to also remove unused blackbox modules.\n");
+		log("        modules. use this option to also remove unused blackbox modules.\n");
 		log("\n");
 		log("    -libdir <directory>\n");
 		log("        search for files named <module_name>.v in the specified directory\n");