diff --git a/src/game.js b/src/game.js
index 88bbf8e..04dcf3e 100644
--- a/src/game.js
+++ b/src/game.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { formatCount } from "./util";
+import { formatANoun, formatCount } from "./util";
 
 export const BASE_RATING = 1200;
 export const SCALING_FACTOR = 800;
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ export function addCard(deck, card, gameMode, findState) {
   }
   const set = setTypes[setType].checkFn(...cards);
   if (!set) {
-    return { kind: "error", cards, error: `Not a ${setType}` };
+    return { kind: "error", cards, error: `Not ${formatANoun(setType)}` };
   }
   if (modes[gameMode].puzzle && foundSets.has(set.slice().sort().join("|"))) {
     return { kind: "error", cards, error: `This ${setType} was already found` };
diff --git a/src/pages/BannedPage.js b/src/pages/BannedPage.js
index de98665..f797bf8 100644
--- a/src/pages/BannedPage.js
+++ b/src/pages/BannedPage.js
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@ import Container from "@material-ui/core/Container";
 import Link from "@material-ui/core/Link";
 import Typography from "@material-ui/core/Typography";
 
+import { formatDateTime } from "../util";
+
 function BannedPage({ time }) {
-  const date = new Date(time);
   return (
     <Container style={{ padding: 16 }}>
       <Typography variant="h4" align="center" gutterBottom>
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ function BannedPage({ time }) {
       </Typography>
       <Typography variant="body1" align="center" gutterBottom>
         Due to a violation of the site's code of conduct,{" "}
-        <strong>you have been banned until {date.toLocaleString()}</strong>.
+        <strong>you have been banned until {formatDateTime(time)}</strong>.
       </Typography>
       <Typography variant="body1" align="center" gutterBottom>
         Please take some time to cool off. If you have questions about this,
diff --git a/src/pages/GamePage.js b/src/pages/GamePage.js
index 3f9e29a..93b3b8b 100644
--- a/src/pages/GamePage.js
+++ b/src/pages/GamePage.js
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import {
 } from "../game";
 import useFirebaseRef from "../hooks/useFirebaseRef";
 import useKeydown, { getModifierState } from "../hooks/useKeydown";
+import { formatANoun } from "../util";
 import LoadingPage from "./LoadingPage";
 import NotFoundPage from "./NotFoundPage";
 
@@ -288,7 +289,7 @@ function GamePage({ match }) {
             setSnack({
               open: true,
               variant: "success",
-              message: `Found a ${state.setType}`,
+              message: `Found ${formatANoun(state.setType)}`,
             });
           }
           return [];
diff --git a/src/util.js b/src/util.js
index 9b297ad..f3e7c24 100644
--- a/src/util.js
+++ b/src/util.js
@@ -143,6 +143,11 @@ export function formatCount(count, singular, plural = null) {
   return `${count} ${noun}`;
 }
 
+export function formatANoun(word) {
+  const a = /^[aeiou]/i.test(word) ? "an" : "a"; // crud heuristic
+  return `${a} ${word}`;
+}
+
 export function censorText(text) {
   return censor.applyTo(text, badWords.getAllMatches(text));
 }
@@ -153,8 +158,8 @@ export function capitalizeFirst(text) {
 
 export function formatDateTime(timestamp) {
   const d = new Date(timestamp);
-  const opts = { timeStyle: "short", hour12: false };
-  return `${d.toLocaleDateString()} ${d.toLocaleTimeString(undefined, opts)}`;
+  const opts = { dateStyle: "medium", timeStyle: "short", hour12: false };
+  return d.toLocaleString(undefined, opts);
 }
 
 export function parseDuration(spec) {
diff --git a/src/util.test.js b/src/util.test.js
index d7673fe..89b3b4e 100644
--- a/src/util.test.js
+++ b/src/util.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { badWords, parseDuration } from "./util";
+import { badWords, formatANoun, parseDuration } from "./util";
 
 describe("bad words filter", () => {
   it("sort of works", () => {
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ describe("bad words filter", () => {
   });
 });
 
+it("parseDuration works", () => {
+  expect(formatANoun("Set")).toBe("a Set");
+  expect(formatANoun("UltraSet")).toBe("an UltraSet");
+  expect(formatANoun("GhostSet")).toBe("a GhostSet");
+  expect(formatANoun("4Set")).toBe("a 4Set");
+});
+
 it("parseDuration works", () => {
   expect(parseDuration("2w")).toBe(2 * 7 * 24 * 3600);
   expect(parseDuration("3d")).toBe(3 * 24 * 3600);