-@noindent
-where @var{tagregexp} is used to match the lines to tag. It is always
-anchored, that is, it behaves as if preceded by @samp{^}. If you want
-to account for indentation, just match any initial number of blanks by
-beginning your regular expression with @samp{[ \t]*}. In the regular
-expressions, @samp{\} quotes the next character, and all the
-@code{gcc} character escape sequences are supported. Here is the list
-of the character escape sequences:
+ The essential part of the option value is @var{tagregexp}, the
+regexp for matching tags. It is always used anchored, that is, it
+only matches at the beginning of a line. If you want to allow
+indented tags, use a regexp that matches initial whitespace; start it
+with @samp{[ \t]*}.
+
+ In these regular expressions, @samp{\} quotes the next character, and
+all the GCC character escape sequences are supported (@samp{\a} for
+bell, @samp{\b} for back space, @samp{\d} for delete, @samp{\e} for
+escape, @samp{\f} for formfeed, @samp{\n} for newline, @samp{\r} for
+carriage return, @samp{\t} for tab, and @samp{\v} for vertical tab).
+
+ Ideally, @var{tagregexp} should not match more characters than are
+needed to recognize what you want to tag. If the syntax requires you
+to write @var{tagregexp} so it matches more characters beyond the tag
+itself, you should add a @var{nameregexp}, to pick out just the tag.
+This will enable Emacs to find tags more accurately and to do
+completion on tag names more reliably. You can find some examples
+below.
+
+ The @var{modifiers} are a sequence of zero or more characters that
+modify the way @code{etags} does the matching. A regexp with no
+modifiers is applied sequentially to each line of the input file, in a
+case-sensitive way. The modifiers and their meanings are: