diff --git a/Source/cmake.cxx b/Source/cmake.cxx
index 4b57395727..4d03821161 100644
--- a/Source/cmake.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmake.cxx
@@ -3210,8 +3210,8 @@ int cmake::Build(int jobs, std::string dir, std::vector<std::string> targets,
   }
   auto gen = this->CreateGlobalGenerator(*cachedGenerator);
   if (!gen) {
-    std::cerr << "Error: could create CMAKE_GENERATOR \"" << *cachedGenerator
-              << "\"\n";
+    std::cerr << "Error: could not create CMAKE_GENERATOR \""
+              << *cachedGenerator << "\"\n";
     return 1;
   }
   this->SetGlobalGenerator(std::move(gen));
@@ -3350,7 +3350,7 @@ bool cmake::Open(const std::string& dir, bool dryRun)
   std::unique_ptr<cmGlobalGenerator> gen =
     this->CreateGlobalGenerator(fullName);
   if (!gen) {
-    std::cerr << "Error: could create CMAKE_GENERATOR \"" << fullName
+    std::cerr << "Error: could not create CMAKE_GENERATOR \"" << fullName
               << "\"\n";
     return false;
   }
diff --git a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/build-bad-generator-stderr.txt b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/build-bad-generator-stderr.txt
index 110340749e..9390d776cb 100644
--- a/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/build-bad-generator-stderr.txt
+++ b/Tests/RunCMake/CommandLine/build-bad-generator-stderr.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-^Error: could create CMAKE_GENERATOR "Bad Generator"$
+^Error: could not create CMAKE_GENERATOR "Bad Generator"$