diff --git a/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst b/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
index 848bb9e..43935da 100644
--- a/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
+++ b/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
@@ -972,7 +972,7 @@
    builtin: execfile
    builtin: compile
 
-**Programmer's note:** the :keyword:`global` is a directive to the parser.  It
+**Programmer's note:** :keyword:`global` is a directive to the parser.  It
 applies only to code parsed at the same time as the :keyword:`global` statement.
 In particular, a :keyword:`global` statement contained in an :keyword:`exec`
 statement does not affect the code block *containing* the :keyword:`exec`