diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/base.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/base.py
index 8b4f094c20..ba18cf09b6 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/base.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/base.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def __init__(self, main_ids: Sequence) -> None:
         self._kwargs = {}
 
         # 'main_ids' will either be channel_ids or units_ids
-        # They is used for properties
+        # They are used for properties
         self._main_ids = np.array(main_ids)
 
         # dict at object level
@@ -984,7 +984,7 @@ def _load_extractor_from_dict(dic) -> BaseExtractor:
     class_name = None
 
     if "kwargs" not in dic:
-        raise Exception(f"This dict cannot be load into extractor {dic}")
+        raise Exception(f"This dict cannot be loaded into extractor {dic}")
 
     # Create new kwargs to avoid modifying the original dict["kwargs"]
     new_kwargs = dict()
@@ -1005,7 +1005,7 @@ def _load_extractor_from_dict(dic) -> BaseExtractor:
     assert extractor_class is not None and class_name is not None, "Could not load spikeinterface class"
     if not _check_same_version(class_name, dic["version"]):
         warnings.warn(
-            f"Versions are not the same. This might lead compatibility errors. "
+            f"Versions are not the same. This might lead to compatibility errors. "
             f"Using {class_name.split('.')[0]}=={dic['version']} is recommended"
         )
 
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/baserecording.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/baserecording.py
index 08f187895b..2977211c25 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/baserecording.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/baserecording.py
@@ -305,7 +305,8 @@ def get_traces(
 
             if not self.has_scaled():
                 raise ValueError(
-                    "This recording do not support return_scaled=True (need gain_to_uV and offset_" "to_uV properties)"
+                    "This recording does not support return_scaled=True (need gain_to_uV and offset_"
+                    "to_uV properties)"
                 )
             else:
                 gains = self.get_property("gain_to_uV")
@@ -416,8 +417,8 @@ def set_times(self, times, segment_index=None, with_warning=True):
         if with_warning:
             warn(
                 "Setting times with Recording.set_times() is not recommended because "
-                "times are not always propagated to across preprocessing"
-                "Use use this carefully!"
+                "times are not always propagated across preprocessing"
+                "Use this carefully!"
             )
 
     def sample_index_to_time(self, sample_ind, segment_index=None):
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/basesorting.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/basesorting.py
index e6d08d38f7..2a06a699cb 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/basesorting.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/basesorting.py
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ def register_recording(self, recording, check_spike_frames=True):
         if check_spike_frames:
             if has_exceeding_spikes(recording, self):
                 warnings.warn(
-                    "Some spikes are exceeding the recording's duration! "
+                    "Some spikes exceed the recording's duration! "
                     "Removing these excess spikes with `spikeinterface.curation.remove_excess_spikes()` "
                     "Might be necessary for further postprocessing."
                 )
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/binaryrecordingextractor.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/binaryrecordingextractor.py
index 72a95637f6..b45290caa5 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/binaryrecordingextractor.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/binaryrecordingextractor.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def __init__(
             file_path_list = [Path(file_paths)]
 
         if t_starts is not None:
-            assert len(t_starts) == len(file_path_list), "t_starts must be a list of same size than file_paths"
+            assert len(t_starts) == len(file_path_list), "t_starts must be a list of the same size as file_paths"
             t_starts = [float(t_start) for t_start in t_starts]
 
         dtype = np.dtype(dtype)
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/channelsaggregationrecording.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/channelsaggregationrecording.py
index d36e168f8d..8714580821 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/channelsaggregationrecording.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/channelsaggregationrecording.py
@@ -104,11 +104,11 @@ def __init__(self, channel_map, parent_segments):
         times_kargs0 = parent_segment0.get_times_kwargs()
         if times_kargs0["time_vector"] is None:
             for ps in parent_segments:
-                assert ps.get_times_kwargs()["time_vector"] is None, "All segment should not have times set"
+                assert ps.get_times_kwargs()["time_vector"] is None, "All segments should not have times set"
         else:
             for ps in parent_segments:
                 assert ps.get_times_kwargs()["t_start"] == times_kargs0["t_start"], (
-                    "All segment should have the same " "t_start"
+                    "All segments should have the same " "t_start"
                 )
 
         BaseRecordingSegment.__init__(self, **times_kargs0)
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/channelslice.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/channelslice.py
index ebd1b7db03..3a21e356a6 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/channelslice.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/channelslice.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def __init__(self, parent_recording, channel_ids=None, renamed_channel_ids=None)
         ), "ChannelSliceRecording: renamed channel_ids must be the same size"
         assert (
             self._channel_ids.size == np.unique(self._channel_ids).size
-        ), "ChannelSliceRecording : channel_ids not unique"
+        ), "ChannelSliceRecording : channel_ids are not unique"
 
         sampling_frequency = parent_recording.get_sampling_frequency()
 
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ def __init__(self, parent_snippets, channel_ids=None, renamed_channel_ids=None):
         ), "ChannelSliceSnippets: renamed channel_ids must be the same size"
         assert (
             self._channel_ids.size == np.unique(self._channel_ids).size
-        ), "ChannelSliceSnippets : channel_ids not unique"
+        ), "ChannelSliceSnippets : channel_ids are not unique"
 
         sampling_frequency = parent_snippets.get_sampling_frequency()
 
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicerecording.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicerecording.py
index 968f27c6ad..b8574c506f 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicerecording.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicerecording.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class FrameSliceRecording(BaseRecording):
     def __init__(self, parent_recording, start_frame=None, end_frame=None):
         channel_ids = parent_recording.get_channel_ids()
 
-        assert parent_recording.get_num_segments() == 1, "FrameSliceRecording work only with one segment"
+        assert parent_recording.get_num_segments() == 1, "FrameSliceRecording only works with one segment"
 
         parent_size = parent_recording.get_num_samples(0)
         if start_frame is None:
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicesorting.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicesorting.py
index 5da5350f06..ed1391b0e2 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicesorting.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/frameslicesorting.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class FrameSliceSorting(BaseSorting):
     def __init__(self, parent_sorting, start_frame=None, end_frame=None, check_spike_frames=True):
         unit_ids = parent_sorting.get_unit_ids()
 
-        assert parent_sorting.get_num_segments() == 1, "FrameSliceSorting work only with one segment"
+        assert parent_sorting.get_num_segments() == 1, "FrameSliceSorting only works with one segment"
 
         if start_frame is None:
             start_frame = 0
@@ -49,10 +49,10 @@ def __init__(self, parent_sorting, start_frame=None, end_frame=None, check_spike
                 end_frame = parent_n_samples
             assert (
                 end_frame <= parent_n_samples
-            ), "`end_frame` should be smaller than the sortings total number of samples."
+            ), "`end_frame` should be smaller than the sortings' total number of samples."
             assert (
                 start_frame <= parent_n_samples
-            ), "`start_frame` should be smaller than the sortings total number of samples."
+            ), "`start_frame` should be smaller than the sortings' total number of samples."
             if check_spike_frames and has_exceeding_spikes(parent_sorting._recording, parent_sorting):
                 raise ValueError(
                     "The sorting object has spikes exceeding the recording duration. You have to remove those spikes "
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ def __init__(self, parent_sorting, start_frame=None, end_frame=None, check_spike
                 end_frame = max_spike_time + 1
 
         assert start_frame < end_frame, (
-            "`start_frame` should be greater than `end_frame`. "
+            "`start_frame` should be less than `end_frame`. "
             "This may be due to start_frame >= max_spike_time, if the end frame "
             "was not specified explicitly."
         )
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/generate.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/generate.py
index 06a5ec96ec..0c67404069 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/generate.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/generate.py
@@ -1101,11 +1101,11 @@ def __init__(
             # handle also upsampling and jitter
             upsample_factor = templates.shape[3]
         elif templates.ndim == 5:
-            # handle also dirft
+            # handle also drift
             raise NotImplementedError("Drift will be implented soon...")
             # upsample_factor = templates.shape[3]
         else:
-            raise ValueError("templates have wring dim should 3 or 4")
+            raise ValueError("templates have wrong dim should 3 or 4")
 
         if upsample_factor is not None:
             assert upsample_vector is not None
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/template_tools.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/template_tools.py
index 95278b76da..b6022e27c0 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/template_tools.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/template_tools.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
 import numpy as np
 import warnings
 
@@ -5,7 +6,9 @@
 from .recording_tools import get_channel_distances, get_noise_levels
 
 
-def get_template_amplitudes(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg", mode: str = "extremum"):
+def get_template_amplitudes(
+    waveform_extractor, peak_sign: "neg" | "pos" | "both" = "neg", mode: "extremum" | "at_index" = "extremum"
+):
     """
     Get amplitude per channel for each unit.
 
@@ -13,9 +16,9 @@ def get_template_amplitudes(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg", mode: st
     ----------
     waveform_extractor: WaveformExtractor
         The waveform extractor
-    peak_sign: str
-        Sign of the template to compute best channels ('neg', 'pos', 'both')
-    mode: str
+    peak_sign: "neg" | "pos" | "both", default: "neg"
+        Sign of the template to compute best channels
+    mode: "extremum" | "at_index", default: "extremum"
         'extremum':  max or min
         'at_index': take value at spike index
 
@@ -24,8 +27,8 @@ def get_template_amplitudes(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg", mode: st
     peak_values: dict
         Dictionary with unit ids as keys and template amplitudes as values
     """
-    assert peak_sign in ("both", "neg", "pos")
-    assert mode in ("extremum", "at_index")
+    assert peak_sign in ("both", "neg", "pos"), "'peak_sign' must be 'both', 'neg', or 'pos'"
+    assert mode in ("extremum", "at_index"), "'mode' must be 'extremum' or 'at_index'"
     unit_ids = waveform_extractor.sorting.unit_ids
 
     before = waveform_extractor.nbefore
@@ -57,7 +60,10 @@ def get_template_amplitudes(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg", mode: st
 
 
 def get_template_extremum_channel(
-    waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg", mode: str = "extremum", outputs: str = "id"
+    waveform_extractor,
+    peak_sign: "neg" | "pos" | "both" = "neg",
+    mode: "extremum" | "at_index" = "extremum",
+    outputs: "id" | "index" = "id",
 ):
     """
     Compute the channel with the extremum peak for each unit.
@@ -66,12 +72,12 @@ def get_template_extremum_channel(
     ----------
     waveform_extractor: WaveformExtractor
         The waveform extractor
-    peak_sign: str
-        Sign of the template to compute best channels ('neg', 'pos', 'both')
-    mode: str
+    peak_sign: "neg" | "pos" | "both", default: "neg"
+        Sign of the template to compute best channels
+    mode: "extremum" | "at_index", default: "extremum"
         'extremum':  max or min
         'at_index': take value at spike index
-    outputs: str
+    outputs: "id" | "index", default: "id"
         * 'id': channel id
         * 'index': channel index
 
@@ -159,7 +165,7 @@ def get_template_channel_sparsity(
 get_template_channel_sparsity.__doc__ = get_template_channel_sparsity.__doc__.format(_sparsity_doc)
 
 
-def get_template_extremum_channel_peak_shift(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg"):
+def get_template_extremum_channel_peak_shift(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: "neg" | "pos" | "both" = "neg"):
     """
     In some situations spike sorters could return a spike index with a small shift related to the waveform peak.
     This function estimates and return these alignment shifts for the mean template.
@@ -169,8 +175,8 @@ def get_template_extremum_channel_peak_shift(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str
     ----------
     waveform_extractor: WaveformExtractor
         The waveform extractor
-    peak_sign: str
-        Sign of the template to compute best channels ('neg', 'pos', 'both')
+    peak_sign: "neg" | "pos" | "both", default: "neg"
+        Sign of the template to compute best channels
 
     Returns
     -------
@@ -203,7 +209,9 @@ def get_template_extremum_channel_peak_shift(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str
     return shifts
 
 
-def get_template_extremum_amplitude(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg", mode: str = "at_index"):
+def get_template_extremum_amplitude(
+    waveform_extractor, peak_sign: "neg" | "pos" | "both" = "neg", mode: "extremum" | "at_index" = "at_index"
+):
     """
     Computes amplitudes on the best channel.
 
@@ -211,9 +219,9 @@ def get_template_extremum_amplitude(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg",
     ----------
     waveform_extractor: WaveformExtractor
         The waveform extractor
-    peak_sign: str
-        Sign of the template to compute best channels ('neg', 'pos', 'both')
-    mode: str
+    peak_sign:  "neg" | "pos" | "both"
+        Sign of the template to compute best channels
+    mode: "extremum" | "at_index", default: "at_index"
         Where the amplitude is computed
         'extremum':  max or min
         'at_index': take value at spike index
@@ -223,8 +231,8 @@ def get_template_extremum_amplitude(waveform_extractor, peak_sign: str = "neg",
     amplitudes: dict
         Dictionary with unit ids as keys and amplitudes as values
     """
-    assert peak_sign in ("both", "neg", "pos")
-    assert mode in ("extremum", "at_index")
+    assert peak_sign in ("both", "neg", "pos"), "'peak_sign' must be  'neg' or 'pos' or 'both'"
+    assert mode in ("extremum", "at_index"), "'mode' must be 'extremum' or 'at_index'"
     unit_ids = waveform_extractor.sorting.unit_ids
 
     before = waveform_extractor.nbefore
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/core/unitsaggregationsorting.py b/src/spikeinterface/core/unitsaggregationsorting.py
index 32158f00df..4e98864ba9 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/core/unitsaggregationsorting.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/core/unitsaggregationsorting.py
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ def __init__(self, sorting_list, renamed_unit_ids=None):
                 try:
                     property_dict[prop_name] = np.concatenate((property_dict[prop_name], values))
                 except Exception as e:
-                    print(f"Skipping property '{prop_name}' for shape inconsistency")
+                    print(f"Skipping property '{prop_name}' due to shape inconsistency")
                     del property_dict[prop_name]
                     break
         for prop_name, prop_values in property_dict.items():
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/clip.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/clip.py
index a2349c1ee9..cc18d51d2e 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/clip.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/clip.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def __init__(
         chunk_size=500,
         seed=0,
     ):
-        assert direction in ("upper", "lower", "both")
+        assert direction in ("upper", "lower", "both"), "'direction' must be 'upper', 'lower', or 'both'"
 
         if fill_value is None or quantile_threshold is not None:
             random_data = get_random_data_chunks(
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/common_reference.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/common_reference.py
index d2ac227217..6d6ce256de 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/common_reference.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/common_reference.py
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ def __init__(
                 ref_channel_ids = np.asarray(ref_channel_ids)
                 assert np.all(
                     [ch in recording.get_channel_ids() for ch in ref_channel_ids]
-                ), "Some wrong 'ref_channel_ids'!"
+                ), "Some 'ref_channel_ids' are wrong!"
         elif reference == "local":
             assert groups is None, "With 'local' CAR, the group option should not be used."
             closest_inds, dist = get_closest_channels(recording)
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/detect_bad_channels.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/detect_bad_channels.py
index cc4e8601e2..e6e2836a35 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/detect_bad_channels.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/detect_bad_channels.py
@@ -211,9 +211,9 @@ def detect_bad_channels(
 
         if bad_channel_ids.size > recording.get_num_channels() / 3:
             warnings.warn(
-                "Over 1/3 of channels are detected as bad. In the precense of a high"
+                "Over 1/3 of channels are detected as bad. In the presence of a high"
                 "number of dead / noisy channels, bad channel detection may fail "
-                "(erroneously label good channels as dead)."
+                "(good channels may be erroneously labeled as dead)."
             )
 
     elif method == "neighborhood_r2":
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter.py
index 51c1fb4ad6..b31088edf7 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter.py
@@ -71,10 +71,10 @@ def __init__(
     ):
         import scipy.signal
 
-        assert filter_mode in ("sos", "ba")
+        assert filter_mode in ("sos", "ba"), "'filter' mode must be 'sos' or 'ba'"
         fs = recording.get_sampling_frequency()
         if coeff is None:
-            assert btype in ("bandpass", "highpass")
+            assert btype in ("bandpass", "highpass"), "'bytpe' must be 'bandpass' or 'highpass'"
             # coefficient
             # self.coeff is 'sos' or 'ab' style
             filter_coeff = scipy.signal.iirfilter(
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ def __init__(self, recording, freq=3000, q=30, margin_ms=5.0, dtype=None):
         if dtype.kind == "u":
             raise TypeError(
                 "The notch filter only supports signed types. Use the 'dtype' argument"
-                "to specify a signed type (e.g. 'int16', 'float32'"
+                "to specify a signed type (e.g. 'int16', 'float32')"
             )
 
         BasePreprocessor.__init__(self, recording, dtype=dtype)
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter_opencl.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter_opencl.py
index 790279d647..d3a08297c6 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter_opencl.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/filter_opencl.py
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ def __init__(
         margin_ms=5.0,
     ):
         assert HAVE_PYOPENCL, "You need to install pyopencl (and GPU driver!!)"
-
-        assert btype in ("bandpass", "lowpass", "highpass", "bandstop")
-        assert filter_mode in ("sos",)
+        btype_modes = ("bandpass", "lowpass", "highpass", "bandstop")
+        assert btype in btype_modes, f"'btype' must be in {btype_modes}"
+        assert filter_mode in ("sos",), "'filter_mode' must be 'sos'"
 
         # coefficient
         sf = recording.get_sampling_frequency()
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ def __init__(self, parent_recording_segment, executor, margin):
         self.margin = margin
 
     def get_traces(self, start_frame, end_frame, channel_indices):
-        assert start_frame is not None, "FilterOpenCLRecording work with fixed chunk_size"
-        assert end_frame is not None, "FilterOpenCLRecording work with fixed chunk_size"
+        assert start_frame is not None, "FilterOpenCLRecording only works with fixed chunk_size"
+        assert end_frame is not None, "FilterOpenCLRecording only works with fixed chunk_size"
 
         chunk_size = end_frame - start_frame
         if chunk_size != self.executor.chunk_size:
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ def process(self, traces):
 
         if traces.shape[0] != self.full_size:
             if self.full_size is not None:
-                print(f"Warning : chunk_size have change {self.chunk_size} {traces.shape[0]}, need recompile CL!!!")
+                print(f"Warning : chunk_size has changed {self.chunk_size} {traces.shape[0]}, need to recompile CL!!!")
             self.create_buffers_and_compile()
 
         event = pyopencl.enqueue_copy(self.queue, self.input_cl, traces)
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/highpass_spatial_filter.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/highpass_spatial_filter.py
index aa98410568..4df4a409bc 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/highpass_spatial_filter.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/highpass_spatial_filter.py
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ def get_traces(self, start_frame, end_frame, channel_indices):
             traces = traces * self.taper[np.newaxis, :]
 
         # apply actual HP filter
-        import scipy
+        import scipy.signal
 
         traces = scipy.signal.sosfiltfilt(self.sos_filter, traces, axis=1)
 
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/normalize_scale.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/normalize_scale.py
index 7d43982853..bd53866b6a 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/normalize_scale.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/normalize_scale.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ def __init__(
         dtype="float32",
         **random_chunk_kwargs,
     ):
-        assert mode in ("pool_channel", "by_channel")
+        assert mode in ("pool_channel", "by_channel"), "'mode' must be 'pool_channel' or 'by_channel'"
 
         random_data = get_random_data_chunks(recording, **random_chunk_kwargs)
 
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ def __init__(
         dtype="float32",
         **random_chunk_kwargs,
     ):
-        assert mode in ("median+mad", "mean+std")
+        assert mode in ("median+mad", "mean+std"), "'mode' must be 'median+mad' or 'mean+std'"
 
         # fix dtype
         dtype_ = fix_dtype(recording, dtype)
diff --git a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/phase_shift.py b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/phase_shift.py
index 9c8b2589a0..bdba55038d 100644
--- a/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/phase_shift.py
+++ b/src/spikeinterface/preprocessing/phase_shift.py
@@ -42,7 +42,9 @@ def __init__(self, recording, margin_ms=40.0, inter_sample_shift=None, dtype=Non
             assert "inter_sample_shift" in recording.get_property_keys(), "'inter_sample_shift' is not a property!"
             sample_shifts = recording.get_property("inter_sample_shift")
         else:
-            assert len(inter_sample_shift) == recording.get_num_channels(), "sample "
+            assert (
+                len(inter_sample_shift) == recording.get_num_channels()
+            ), "the 'inter_sample_shift' must be same size at the num_channels "
             sample_shifts = np.asarray(inter_sample_shift)
 
         margin = int(margin_ms * recording.get_sampling_frequency() / 1000.0)