diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameReader.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameReader.scala
index c1a8f19313a7df56b74ce6f363d4a269358ec077..0acea95344c22e85d36c2a953c828eb961dfe2b9 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameReader.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameReader.scala
@@ -154,13 +154,14 @@ class DataFrameReader private[sql](sqlContext: SQLContext) extends Logging {
    * Don't create too many partitions in parallel on a large cluster; otherwise Spark might crash
    * your external database systems.
    *
-   * @param url JDBC database url of the form `jdbc:subprotocol:subname`
+   * @param url JDBC database url of the form `jdbc:subprotocol:subname`.
    * @param table Name of the table in the external database.
    * @param columnName the name of a column of integral type that will be used for partitioning.
-   * @param lowerBound the minimum value of `columnName` used to decide partition stride
-   * @param upperBound the maximum value of `columnName` used to decide partition stride
-   * @param numPartitions the number of partitions.  the range `minValue`-`maxValue` will be split
-   *                      evenly into this many partitions
+   * @param lowerBound the minimum value of `columnName` used to decide partition stride.
+   * @param upperBound the maximum value of `columnName` used to decide partition stride.
+   * @param numPartitions the number of partitions. This, along with `lowerBound` (inclusive),
+   *                      `upperBound` (exclusive), form partition strides for generated WHERE
+   *                      clause expressions used to split the column `columnName` evenly.
    * @param connectionProperties JDBC database connection arguments, a list of arbitrary string
    *                             tag/value. Normally at least a "user" and "password" property
    *                             should be included.