diff --git a/cmd/ctr/container_delete.go b/cmd/ctr/container_delete.go
index 5615f57bc..8840b7651 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/container_delete.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/container_delete.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 var containersDeleteCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:      "delete",
-	Usage:     "deletes one or more existing containers",
+	Usage:     "delete one or more existing containers",
 	ArgsUsage: "CONTAINER [CONTAINER, ...]",
 	Aliases:   []string{"del", "rm"},
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/content.go b/cmd/ctr/content.go
index 4e9872ac6..96187ff08 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/content.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/content.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import (
 var (
 	contentCommand = cli.Command{
 		Name:  "content",
-		Usage: "content management",
+		Usage: "manage content",
 		Subcommands: cli.Commands{
 			listContentCommand,
 			ingestContentCommand,
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ var (
 
 	labelContentCommand = cli.Command{
 		Name:        "label",
-		Usage:       "adds labels to content",
+		Usage:       "add labels to content",
 		ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <digest> [<label>=<value> ...]",
 		Description: `Labels blobs in the content store`,
 		Flags:       []cli.Flag{},
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/export.go b/cmd/ctr/export.go
index 0e081159c..f7899150a 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/export.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/export.go
@@ -12,24 +12,23 @@ import (
 )
 
 var imagesExportCommand = cli.Command{
-	Name:      "export",
-	Usage:     "export an image",
-	ArgsUsage: "[flags] <out> <image>",
-	Description: `Export an image to a tar stream
-`,
+	Name:        "export",
+	Usage:       "export an image",
+	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <out> <image>",
+	Description: `Export an image to a tar stream.`,
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "oci-ref-name",
 			Value: "",
-			Usage: "Override org.opencontainers.image.ref.name annotation",
+			Usage: "override org.opencontainers.image.ref.name annotation",
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "manifest",
-			Usage: "Digest of manifest",
+			Usage: "digest of manifest",
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "manifest-type",
-			Usage: "Media type of manifest digest",
+			Usage: "media type of manifest digest",
 			Value: ocispec.MediaTypeImageManifest,
 		},
 	},
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/images.go b/cmd/ctr/images.go
index ce12fb0d3..2679660a3 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/images.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/images.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import (
 
 var imageCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:  "images",
-	Usage: "image management",
+	Usage: "manage images",
 	Subcommands: cli.Commands{
 		imagesListCommand,
 		imageRemoveCommand,
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ var imagesListCommand = cli.Command{
 
 var imagesSetLabelsCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:        "label",
-	Usage:       "Set and clear labels for an image.",
+	Usage:       "set and clear labels for an image.",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <name> [<key>=<value>, ...]",
 	Description: "Set and clear labels for an image.",
 	Flags:       []cli.Flag{},
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/import.go b/cmd/ctr/import.go
index ebdcee5d7..ead33f33e 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/import.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/import.go
@@ -11,11 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 var imagesImportCommand = cli.Command{
-	Name:      "import",
-	Usage:     "import an image",
-	ArgsUsage: "[flags] <ref> <in>",
-	Description: `Import an image from a tar stream
-`,
+	Name:        "import",
+	Usage:       "import an image",
+	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <ref> <in>",
+	Description: `Import an image from a tar stream.`,
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "ref-object",
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/labels.go b/cmd/ctr/labels.go
index 4a9a8594c..67fe2fb76 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/labels.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/labels.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 var containersSetLabelsCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:        "label",
-	Usage:       "Set and clear labels for a container.",
+	Usage:       "set and clear labels for a container.",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <name> [<key>=<value>, ...]",
 	Description: "Set and clear labels for a container.",
 	Flags:       []cli.Flag{},
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/namespaces.go b/cmd/ctr/namespaces.go
index 47e91d602..23923771f 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/namespaces.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/namespaces.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ var namespacesCommand = cli.Command{
 
 var namespacesCreateCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:        "create",
-	Usage:       "Create a new namespace.",
+	Usage:       "create a new namespace.",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <name> [<key>=<value]",
 	Description: "Create a new namespace. It must be unique.",
 	Action: func(clicontext *cli.Context) error {
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ var namespacesCreateCommand = cli.Command{
 
 var namespacesSetLabelsCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:        "label",
-	Usage:       "Set and clear labels for a namespace.",
+	Usage:       "set and clear labels for a namespace.",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <name> [<key>=<value>, ...]",
 	Description: "Set and clear labels for a namespace.",
 	Flags:       []cli.Flag{},
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ var namespacesSetLabelsCommand = cli.Command{
 var namespacesListCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:        "list",
 	Aliases:     []string{"ls"},
-	Usage:       "List namespaces.",
+	Usage:       "list namespaces.",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags]",
 	Description: "List namespaces.",
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ var namespacesListCommand = cli.Command{
 var namespacesRemoveCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:        "remove",
 	Aliases:     []string{"rm"},
-	Usage:       "Remove one or more namespaces",
+	Usage:       "remove one or more namespaces",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <name> [<name>, ...]",
 	Description: "Remove one or more namespaces. For now, the namespace must be empty.",
 	Action: func(clicontext *cli.Context) error {
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/pprof.go b/cmd/ctr/pprof.go
index 43be0a461..68e232480 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/pprof.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/pprof.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ type pprofDialer struct {
 
 var pprofCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:  "pprof",
-	Usage: "provides golang pprof outputs for containerd",
+	Usage: "provide golang pprof outputs for containerd",
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "debug-socket, d",
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ var pprofProfileCommand = cli.Command{
 
 var pprofTraceCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:  "trace",
-	Usage: "collects execution trace",
+	Usage: "collect execution trace",
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		cli.DurationFlag{
 			Name:  "seconds,s",
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/push.go b/cmd/ctr/push.go
index ffc1549c8..7dc62253e 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/push.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/push.go
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ var pushCommand = cli.Command{
 `,
 	Flags: append(registryFlags, cli.StringFlag{
 		Name:  "manifest",
-		Usage: "Digest of manifest",
+		Usage: "digest of manifest",
 	}, cli.StringFlag{
 		Name:  "manifest-type",
-		Usage: "Media type of manifest digest",
+		Usage: "media type of manifest digest",
 		Value: ocispec.MediaTypeImageManifest,
 	}),
 	Action: func(clicontext *cli.Context) error {
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/pushobject.go b/cmd/ctr/pushobject.go
index be05e7681..2c832d119 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/pushobject.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/pushobject.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 var pushObjectCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:        "push-object",
-	Usage:       "pushes an object to a remote",
+	Usage:       "push an object to a remote",
 	ArgsUsage:   "[flags] <remote> <object> <type>",
 	Description: `Push objects by identifier to a remote.`,
 	Flags:       registryFlags,
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/rootfs.go b/cmd/ctr/rootfs.go
index c266adc53..7c7871b81 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/rootfs.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/rootfs.go
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import (
 
 var rootfsCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:  "rootfs",
-	Usage: "rootfs setups a rootfs",
+	Usage: "setup a rootfs",
 	Subcommands: []cli.Command{
 		rootfsUnpackCommand,
 	},
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/run_unix.go b/cmd/ctr/run_unix.go
index 6056549bb..f6037fc31 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/run_unix.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/run_unix.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 func init() {
 	runCommand.Flags = append(runCommand.Flags, cli.BoolFlag{
 		Name:  "rootfs",
-		Usage: "Use custom rootfs that is not managed by containerd snapshotter.",
+		Usage: "use custom rootfs that is not managed by containerd snapshotter.",
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/snapshot.go b/cmd/ctr/snapshot.go
index c48a35a94..f8a2b5ecf 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/snapshot.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/snapshot.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ var snapshotCommand = cli.Command{
 var listSnapshotCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:    "list",
 	Aliases: []string{"ls"},
-	Usage:   "List snapshots",
+	Usage:   "list snapshots",
 	Action: func(clicontext *cli.Context) error {
 		ctx, cancel := appContext(clicontext)
 		defer cancel()
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ var listSnapshotCommand = cli.Command{
 
 var usageSnapshotCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:      "usage",
-	Usage:     "Usage snapshots",
+	Usage:     "usage snapshots",
 	ArgsUsage: "[flags] [<key>, ...]",
 	Flags: []cli.Flag{
 		cli.BoolFlag{
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ var commitSnapshotCommand = cli.Command{
 
 var treeSnapshotCommand = cli.Command{
 	Name:  "tree",
-	Usage: "Display tree view of snapshot branches",
+	Usage: "display tree view of snapshot branches",
 	Action: func(clicontext *cli.Context) error {
 		ctx, cancel := appContext(clicontext)
 		defer cancel()
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/utils.go b/cmd/ctr/utils.go
index 2dee686ef..143756481 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/utils.go
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ var (
 	snapshotterFlags = []cli.Flag{
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "snapshotter",
-			Usage: "Snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the daemon default value.",
+			Usage: "snapshotter name. Empty value stands for the daemon default value.",
 			Value: containerd.DefaultSnapshotter,
 		},
 	}
@@ -60,11 +60,11 @@ var (
 	registryFlags = []cli.Flag{
 		cli.BoolFlag{
 			Name:  "skip-verify,k",
-			Usage: "Skip SSL certificate validation",
+			Usage: "skip SSL certificate validation",
 		},
 		cli.BoolFlag{
 			Name:  "plain-http",
-			Usage: "Allow connections using plain HTTP",
+			Usage: "allow connections using plain HTTP",
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "user,u",
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ var (
 		},
 		cli.StringFlag{
 			Name:  "refresh",
-			Usage: "Refresh token for authorization server",
+			Usage: "refresh token for authorization server",
 		},
 	}
 )