diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
index f5f62466075c..277c2da9874c 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
@@ -685,11 +685,11 @@ def suptitle(self, t, **kwargs):
             The y location of the text in figure coordinates.
 
         horizontalalignment, ha : {'center', 'left', right'}, default: 'center'
-            The horizontal alignment of the text.
+            The horizontal alignment of the text relative to (*x*, *y*).
 
         verticalalignment, va : {'top', 'center', 'bottom', 'baseline'}, \
 default: 'top'
-            The vertical alignment of the text.
+            The vertical alignment of the text relative to (*x*, *y*).
 
         fontsize, size : default: :rc:`figure.titlesize`
             The font size of the text. See `.Text.set_size` for possible