diff --git a/tools/check-po.awk b/tools/check-po.awk
index 412b45103..035251bab 100755
--- a/tools/check-po.awk
+++ b/tools/check-po.awk
@@ -23,14 +23,14 @@
 # (and the percentage it represents), how many are fuzzy (and the
 # percentage it represents amongst translated strings), and how
 # many are untranslated (and the percentage it represents).
-# It will _not_ tell you wether your file is syntactically correct
+# It will _not_ tell you whether your file is syntactically correct
 # (eg. check for terminating double quotes!). And of course it
-# will _not_ tell you wether the translations are correct! ;-]
+# will _not_ tell you whether the translations are correct! ;-]
 #
-# It was originaly been written for SANE backends translations, but
+# It was originally been written for SANE backends translations, but
 # shall be able to check any .po file.
 #
-# Originally writen by Yann E. MORIN
+# Originally written by Yann E. MORIN
 # <yann dot morin dot 1998 at anciens dot enib dot fr>
 #
 # Output will look like :
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 #   |              |     |  |   |
 #   |              |     |  |   \-> Original untranslated string
 #   |              |     |  |
-#   |              |     |  \-> flag telling wether it is
+#   |              |     |  \-> flag telling whether it is
 #   |              |     |      fuzzy (F) or not (-)
 #   |              |     |
 #   |              |     \-> line number in the .po file
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ $1 ~ /msgid/ && first == 0 \
     trans = trans a[i]
   }
 
-  # Checks wether we have a translation or not, wether it is fuzzy or not
+  # Checks whether we have a translation or not, whether it is fuzzy or not
   if( ( trans == "" ) || ( is_fuzzy == 1 ) )
   {
     # Enclose original messages between double quotes
diff --git a/tools/check-usb-chip.c b/tools/check-usb-chip.c
index ac71cb426..cbb6311b4 100644
--- a/tools/check-usb-chip.c
+++ b/tools/check-usb-chip.c
@@ -4291,7 +4291,7 @@ check_usb_chip (int verbosity,
       if (ret < 0)
 	{
 	  if (verbose > 2)
-	    printf ("couldnt set device to configuration %d\n",
+	    printf ("couldn't set device to configuration %d\n",
 		    config0->bConfigurationValue);
 	  return NULL;
 	}
diff --git a/tools/hotplug/README b/tools/hotplug/README
index 11706394e..b7c9d1500 100644
--- a/tools/hotplug/README
+++ b/tools/hotplug/README
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ instead.
     using the vendor ID and the product ID of your scanner. Please contact the
     sane-devel mailing list in this case so the ids of your scanner can be added.
   o Make sure that the "scanner" group exists on your system and that every user
-    who should be allowed to acces the scanner is a member of that group.
+    who should be allowed to access the scanner is a member of that group.
     Alternatively, you can enable access for every user of your system in
     libusbscanner.
 
diff --git a/tools/libtool-get-dll-ext b/tools/libtool-get-dll-ext
index 722e67641..d8ca0a34e 100755
--- a/tools/libtool-get-dll-ext
+++ b/tools/libtool-get-dll-ext
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # Author: Petter Reinholdtsen <pere@td.org.uit.no>
 # Date:   2000-03-18
 #
-# Given a libtool lib*.la, return the dll extention used (ie. so, sl,
+# Given a libtool lib*.la, return the dll extension used (ie. so, sl,
 # dll, etc)
 if test "x$1" = x; then
   echo "usage: $0 <libfile.la>"
diff --git a/tools/sane-desc.c b/tools/sane-desc.c
index 191c6e5c3..2d90ed26b 100644
--- a/tools/sane-desc.c
+++ b/tools/sane-desc.c
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ static const char *device_type_name[] =
   {"Unknown", "Scanners", "Still cameras", "Video Cameras", "Meta backends",
    "APIs"};
 static const char *device_type_aname[] =
-  {"UKNOWN", "SCANNERS", "STILL", "VIDEO", "META",
+  {"UNKNOWN", "SCANNERS", "STILL", "VIDEO", "META",
    "API"};
 static const char *status_color[] =
   {COLOR_UNKNOWN, COLOR_UNSUPPORTED, COLOR_UNTESTED, COLOR_MINIMAL,
@@ -783,7 +783,7 @@ check_hex (SANE_String string)
   return SANE_TRUE;
 }
 
-/* Read and interprete the .desc files */
+/* Read and interpret the .desc files */
 static SANE_Bool
 read_files (void)
 {
@@ -1698,7 +1698,7 @@ update_model_record_list (model_record_entry * first_model_record,
 
 
 /* Insert manufacturer into list at the alphabetically correct position, */
-/* create new record if neccessary */
+/* create new record if necessary */
 static mfg_record_entry *
 update_mfg_record_list (mfg_record_entry * first_mfg_record, mfg_entry * mfg,
 			backend_entry * be)