diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala
index efb8978f7ce1290dd588192ec0ce7621954bea8a..5a8e5bb1f721a56fa0969536bccfa263c4646fdf 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/java/JavaRDDLike.scala
@@ -493,9 +493,9 @@ trait JavaRDDLike[T, This <: JavaRDDLike[T, This]] extends Serializable {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the top K elements from this RDD as defined by
+   * Returns the top k (largest) elements from this RDD as defined by
    * the specified Comparator[T].
-   * @param num the number of top elements to return
+   * @param num k, the number of top elements to return
    * @param comp the comparator that defines the order
    * @return an array of top elements
    */
@@ -507,9 +507,9 @@ trait JavaRDDLike[T, This <: JavaRDDLike[T, This]] extends Serializable {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the top K elements from this RDD using the
+   * Returns the top k (largest) elements from this RDD using the
    * natural ordering for T.
-   * @param num the number of top elements to return
+   * @param num k, the number of top elements to return
    * @return an array of top elements
    */
   def top(num: Int): JList[T] = {
@@ -518,9 +518,9 @@ trait JavaRDDLike[T, This <: JavaRDDLike[T, This]] extends Serializable {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the first K elements from this RDD as defined by
+   * Returns the first k (smallest) elements from this RDD as defined by
    * the specified Comparator[T] and maintains the order.
-   * @param num the number of top elements to return
+   * @param num k, the number of elements to return
    * @param comp the comparator that defines the order
    * @return an array of top elements
    */
@@ -552,9 +552,9 @@ trait JavaRDDLike[T, This <: JavaRDDLike[T, This]] extends Serializable {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the first K elements from this RDD using the
+   * Returns the first k (smallest) elements from this RDD using the
    * natural ordering for T while maintain the order.
-   * @param num the number of top elements to return
+   * @param num k, the number of top elements to return
    * @return an array of top elements
    */
   def takeOrdered(num: Int): JList[T] = {
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
index c169b2d3fe97f732c08986b2e12a161977f36669..716f2dd17733b96d1f7ff4a922dbf1064072f0fb 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/rdd/RDD.scala
@@ -1096,7 +1096,7 @@ abstract class RDD[T: ClassTag](
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the top K (largest) elements from this RDD as defined by the specified
+   * Returns the top k (largest) elements from this RDD as defined by the specified
    * implicit Ordering[T]. This does the opposite of [[takeOrdered]]. For example:
    * {{{
    *   sc.parallelize(Seq(10, 4, 2, 12, 3)).top(1)
@@ -1106,14 +1106,14 @@ abstract class RDD[T: ClassTag](
    *   // returns Array(6, 5)
    * }}}
    *
-   * @param num the number of top elements to return
+   * @param num k, the number of top elements to return
    * @param ord the implicit ordering for T
    * @return an array of top elements
    */
   def top(num: Int)(implicit ord: Ordering[T]): Array[T] = takeOrdered(num)(ord.reverse)
 
   /**
-   * Returns the first K (smallest) elements from this RDD as defined by the specified
+   * Returns the first k (smallest) elements from this RDD as defined by the specified
    * implicit Ordering[T] and maintains the ordering. This does the opposite of [[top]].
    * For example:
    * {{{
@@ -1124,7 +1124,7 @@ abstract class RDD[T: ClassTag](
    *   // returns Array(2, 3)
    * }}}
    *
-   * @param num the number of top elements to return
+   * @param num k, the number of elements to return
    * @param ord the implicit ordering for T
    * @return an array of top elements
    */