diff --git a/usr.bin/split/split.1 b/usr.bin/split/split.1
index 5b174329d9b6..afd7dc4d11ac 100644
--- a/usr.bin/split/split.1
+++ b/usr.bin/split/split.1
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 .\"	@(#)split.1	8.3 (Berkeley) 4/16/94
 .\" $FreeBSD$
 .\"
-.Dd August 21, 2005
+.Dd August 9, 2006
 .Dt SPLIT 1
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -40,17 +40,29 @@
 .Nd split a file into pieces
 .Sh SYNOPSIS
 .Nm
-.Op Fl a Ar suffix_length
-.Op Fl b Ar byte_count Ns Op Cm k Ns | Ns Cm m
 .Op Fl l Ar line_count
-.Op Fl p Ar pattern
-.Op Ar file Op Ar name
+.Op Fl a Ar suffix_length
+.Op Ar file Op Ar prefix
+.Nm
+.Fl b Ar byte_count Ns
+.Oo
+.Cm k Ns | Ns Cm m
+.Oc
+.Op Fl a Ar suffix_length
+.Op Ar file Op Ar prefix
+.Nm
+.Fl p Ar pattern
+.Op Fl a Ar suffix_length
+.Op Ar file Op Ar prefix
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 The
 .Nm
 utility reads the given
 .Ar file
-and breaks it up into files of 1000 lines each.
+and breaks it up into files of 1000 lines each
+(if no options are specified), leaving the
+.Ar file
+unchanged.
 If
 .Ar file
 is a single dash
@@ -60,7 +72,7 @@ or absent,
 reads from the standard input.
 .Pp
 The options are as follows:
-.Bl -tag -width Ds
+.Bl -tag -width indent
 .It Fl a Ar suffix_length
 Use
 .Ar suffix_length
@@ -81,7 +93,7 @@ is appended to the number, the file is split into
 megabyte pieces.
 .It Fl l Ar line_count
 Create smaller files
-.Ar n
+.Ar line_count
 lines in length.
 .It Fl p Ar pattern
 The file is split whenever an input line matches
@@ -103,13 +115,13 @@ In this case, each file into which the file is split is named by the
 prefix followed by a lexically ordered suffix using
 .Ar suffix_length
 characters in the range
-.Dq Li a-z .
+.Dq Li a Ns  - Ns Li z .
 If
 .Fl a
 is not specified, two letters are used as the suffix.
 .Pp
 If the
-.Ar name
+.Ar prefix
 argument is not specified, the file is split into lexically ordered
 files named with the prefix
 .Dq Li x
diff --git a/usr.bin/split/split.c b/usr.bin/split/split.c
index 906d07a0ed8d..71b47c739978 100644
--- a/usr.bin/split/split.c
+++ b/usr.bin/split/split.c
@@ -130,11 +130,6 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 				errx(EX_USAGE, "%s: offset too large", optarg);
 			bytecnt = (off_t)(bytecnti * scale);
 			break;
-		case 'p' :      /* pattern matching. */
-			if (regcomp(&rgx, optarg, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB) != 0)
-				errx(EX_USAGE, "%s: illegal regexp", optarg);
-			pflag = 1;
-			break;
 		case 'l':		/* Line count. */
 			if (numlines != 0)
 				usage();
@@ -142,6 +137,11 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 				errx(EX_USAGE,
 				    "%s: illegal line count", optarg);
 			break;
+		case 'p':		/* pattern matching. */
+			if (regcomp(&rgx, optarg, REG_EXTENDED|REG_NOSUB) != 0)
+				errx(EX_USAGE, "%s: illegal regexp", optarg);
+			pflag = 1;
+			break;
 		default:
 			usage();
 		}
@@ -335,8 +335,8 @@ static void
 usage(void)
 {
 	(void)fprintf(stderr,
-"usage: split [-a sufflen] [-b byte_count] [-l line_count] [-p pattern]\n");
-	(void)fprintf(stderr,
-"             [file [prefix]]\n");
+"usage: split [-l line_count] [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]\n"
+"       split -b byte_count[k|m] [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]\n"
+"       split -p pattern [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]\n");
 	exit(EX_USAGE);
 }