diff --git a/source/reference/operator/query/ne.txt b/source/reference/operator/query/ne.txt
index 52ad3c6cfdb..e991faf3ad6 100644
--- a/source/reference/operator/query/ne.txt
+++ b/source/reference/operator/query/ne.txt
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ $ne
    *Syntax*: ``{field: {$ne: value} }``
 
    :query:`$ne` selects the documents where the value of the
-   ``field`` is not equal (i.e. ``!=``) to the specified ``value``.
+   ``field`` is not equal to the specified ``value``.
    This includes documents that do not contain the ``field``.
 
    .. include:: /includes/fact-comparison-order.rst