diff --git a/lib/index.js b/lib/index.js
index 66cf050..a162b58 100644
--- a/lib/index.js
+++ b/lib/index.js
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const emptyOptions = {}
  */
 export default function retextSentenceSpacing(options) {
   const settings = options || emptyOptions
-  const preferred =
+  const expected =
     settings.preferred === 'double-space' || settings.preferred === 2
       ? 2
       : settings.preferred === 'newline' || settings.preferred === 0
@@ -63,53 +63,47 @@ export default function retextSentenceSpacing(options) {
           continue
         }
 
-        const actual = toString(child)
+        const value = toString(child)
 
         // We only check for whitespace that is *just* spaces: it’s OK to add
         // line feeds if `space` is expected.
-        if (!/^ +$/.test(actual)) {
+        if (!/^ +$/.test(value)) {
           continue
         }
 
-        const size = actual.length
-        /** @type {string} */
-        let reason
+        const actual = value.length
 
-        // Size is never preferred if we want a line feed.
-        if (preferred === 0) {
-          reason =
-            'Expected a newline between sentences, not `' +
-            size +
-            '` space' +
-            (size === 1 ? '' : 's')
-        } else if (size === preferred) {
+        // `actual` is never `expected` if we want a line feed.
+        if (actual === expected) {
           continue
-        } else {
-          reason =
-            'Expected `' +
-            preferred +
-            '` space' +
-            (preferred === 1 ? '' : 's') +
-            ' between sentences, not `' +
-            size +
-            '`'
         }
 
-        const message = file.message(reason, {
-          place: child.position,
-          ruleId:
-            preferred === 0
-              ? 'newline'
-              : preferred === 1
-              ? 'space'
-              : 'double-space',
-          source: 'retext-sentence-spacing'
-        })
+        const message = file.message(
+          expected === 0
+            ? 'Unexpected spaces between sentence, expected a line ending'
+            : 'Unexpected ' +
+                actual +
+                ' space' +
+                (actual === 1 ? '' : 's') +
+                ' between sentence, expected ' +
+                expected +
+                ' space' +
+                (expected === 1 ? '' : 's'),
+          {
+            ancestors: [node, child],
+            place: child.position,
+            ruleId:
+              expected === 0
+                ? 'newline'
+                : expected === 1
+                ? 'space'
+                : 'double-space',
+            source: 'retext-sentence-spacing'
+          }
+        )
 
-        message.actual = actual
-        message.expected = [
-          preferred === 0 ? '\n' : preferred === 1 ? ' ' : '  '
-        ]
+        message.actual = value
+        message.expected = [expected === 0 ? '\n' : expected === 1 ? ' ' : '  ']
         message.url =
           'https://github.com/retextjs/retext-sentence-spacing#readme'
       }
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 24f91ea..5a13a2f 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -29,14 +29,14 @@ test('retextSentenceSpacing', async function (t) {
         ancestors: [],
         column: 14,
         fatal: false,
-        message: 'Expected `1` space between sentences, not `2`',
+        message: 'Unexpected 2 spaces between sentence, expected 1 space',
         line: 3,
         name: '3:14-3:16',
         place: {
           start: {line: 3, column: 14, offset: 43},
           end: {line: 3, column: 16, offset: 45}
         },
-        reason: 'Expected `1` space between sentences, not `2`',
+        reason: 'Unexpected 2 spaces between sentence, expected 1 space',
         ruleId: 'space',
         source: 'retext-sentence-spacing',
         actual: '  ',
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ test('retextSentenceSpacing', async function (t) {
             .process(mixed)
 
           assert.deepEqual(file.messages.map(String), [
-            '3:14-3:16: Expected `1` space between sentences, not `2`'
+            '3:14-3:16: Unexpected 2 spaces between sentence, expected 1 space'
           ])
         }
       )
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ test('retextSentenceSpacing', async function (t) {
             .process(mixed)
 
           assert.deepEqual(file.messages.map(String), [
-            '1:14-1:15: Expected `2` spaces between sentences, not `1`'
+            '1:14-1:15: Unexpected 1 space between sentence, expected 2 spaces'
           ])
         }
       )
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ test('retextSentenceSpacing', async function (t) {
             .process(mixed)
 
           assert.deepEqual(file.messages.map(String), [
-            '1:14-1:15: Expected a newline between sentences, not `1` space',
-            '3:14-3:16: Expected a newline between sentences, not `2` spaces'
+            '1:14-1:15: Unexpected spaces between sentence, expected a line ending',
+            '3:14-3:16: Unexpected spaces between sentence, expected a line ending'
           ])
         }
       )
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ test('retextSentenceSpacing', async function (t) {
       .process('One sentence.   Three sentences.')
 
     assert.deepEqual(file.messages.map(String), [
-      '1:14-1:17: Expected `1` space between sentences, not `3`'
+      '1:14-1:17: Unexpected 3 spaces between sentence, expected 1 space'
     ])
   })