diff --git a/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.cpp b/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.cpp
index b40726312..5957047a3 100644
--- a/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.cpp
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ static double Kappa(const BinaryMeasurement<T> &measurement,
       // If robust, check if optimality certificate is expected
       if (parameters.getCertifyOptimality()) {
         throw std::invalid_argument(
-            "Verification of optimality does not work with robust cost.");
+            "Certification of optimality does not work with robust cost.");
       } else {
         // Optimality certificate not required, so setting default sigma
         sigma = 1;
@@ -811,7 +811,7 @@ std::pair<Values, double> ShonanAveraging<d>::run(const Values &initialEstimate,
     // Optimize until convergence at this level
     Qstar = tryOptimizingAt(p, initialSOp);
     if (parameters_.getUseHuber() || !parameters_.getCertifyOptimality()) {
-      // in this case, there is no optimality verification
+      // in this case, there is no optimality certification
       if (pMin != pMax) {
         throw std::runtime_error(
             "When using robust norm, Shonan only tests a single rank. Set pMin = pMax");
diff --git a/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.h b/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.h
index 8a620cdc5..2cb62ca55 100644
--- a/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.h
+++ b/gtsam/sfm/ShonanAveraging.h
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ struct GTSAM_EXPORT ShonanAveragingParameters {
   using Rot = typename std::conditional<d == 2, Rot2, Rot3>::type;
   using Anchor = std::pair<size_t, Rot>;
 
-  // Paremeters themselves:
+  // Parameters themselves:
   LevenbergMarquardtParams lm;  ///< LM parameters
   double optimalityThreshold;   ///< threshold used in checkOptimality
   Anchor anchor;                ///< pose to use as anchor if not Karcher