diff --git a/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire.py b/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire.py
index 62a7e05051352b3dc593415175d8510cee884dbc..8a5c9cacb769804f03bc550f634df8268fbfd151 100644
--- a/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire.py
+++ b/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ for i in xrange(L):
 
 # First the lead to the left
 
-# (Note: TranslationalSymmetry takes a real space vector)
+# (Note: TranslationalSymmetry takes a real-space vector)
 #HIDDEN_BEGIN_xcmc
 sym_lead0 = kwant.TranslationalSymmetry((-a, 0))
 lead0 = kwant.Builder(sym_lead0)
diff --git a/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire_revisited.py b/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire_revisited.py
index 0290ed62ef360f34b69708879c6e60ea07a8d362..03df2f86e8ac71be029023c8828c9e7b92af929e 100644
--- a/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire_revisited.py
+++ b/doc/source/tutorial/1-quantum_wire_revisited.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def make_system(a=1, t=1.0, W=10, L=30):
 
     #### Define the leads. ####
     # First the lead to the left, ...
-    # (Note: TranslationalSymmetry takes a real space vector)
+    # (Note: TranslationalSymmetry takes a real-space vector)
 #HIDDEN_BEGIN_iepx
     sym_lead0 = kwant.TranslationalSymmetry((-a, 0))
     lead0 = kwant.Builder(sym_lead0)
diff --git a/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial1.rst b/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial1.rst
index dfa5ced4e7893915ad3b04b4ef778c64fdc8862f..837938088e3744db593da1130145fb4812b96a08 100644
--- a/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial1.rst
+++ b/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial1.rst
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ system must have a translational symmetry:
     :end-before: #HIDDEN_END_xcmc
 
 Here, the `~kwant.builder.Builder` takes a translational symmetry as the
-optional parameter. Note that the (real space) vector ``(-a, 0)`` defining the
+optional parameter. Note that the (real-space) vector ``(-a, 0)`` defining the
 translational symmetry must point in a direction *away* from the scattering
 region, *into* the lead -- hence, lead 0 [#]_ will be the left lead, extending
 to infinity to the left.
diff --git a/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial2.rst b/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial2.rst
index 4bb79ac7b7ad8a617597cf20cc367bd82b44fb65..fdbe6f3e0d067150b1a640c8929a4d097e23d3ab 100644
--- a/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial2.rst
+++ b/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial2.rst
@@ -117,9 +117,9 @@ the following, clearly non-monotonic conductance steps:
     lattice indices, i.e. relative to the Bravais lattice vectors.
     For a square lattice, the Bravais lattice vectors are simply
     :math:`(a,0)` and :math:`(0,a)`, and hence the mapping from
-    lattice indices `(i,j)` to realspace and back is trivial.
+    lattice indices `(i,j)` to real space and back is trivial.
     This becomes more involved in more complicated lattices, where
-    the realspace directions corresponding to, for example, `(1,0)`
+    the real-space directions corresponding to, for example, `(1,0)`
     and `(0,1)` need not be orthogonal any more
     (see :ref:`tutorial-graphene`).
 
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ define the potential profile of a quantum well as:
     :end-before: #HIDDEN_END_ehso
 
 This function takes one argument which is of type
-`~kwant.builder.Site`, from which you can get the realspace
+`~kwant.builder.Site`, from which you can get the real-space
 coordinates using ``site.pos``. Note that we use several global
 variables to define the behavior of `potential()`: `L` and `L_well`
 are variables taken from the namespace of `make_system`, the variable `pot`
@@ -216,9 +216,8 @@ oscillatory transmission behavior through resonances in the quantum well.
     global variable `pot` would in fact be created by the
     first assignment in `plot_conductance()`.
 
-  - Apart from the realspace position `pos`, `~kwant.builder.Site`
-    has also an attribute `tag` containing the lattice indices
-    of the site.
+  - Apart from the real-space position `pos`, `~kwant.builder.Site` has also an
+    attribute `tag` containing the lattice indices of the site.
 
   - Since we use a global variable to change the value of the
     potential, let us briefly reflect on how python determines
@@ -316,7 +315,7 @@ that returns ``True`` whenever a point is inside the shape, and
     :start-after: #HIDDEN_BEGIN_eusz
     :end-before: #HIDDEN_END_eusz
 
-Note that this function takes a realspace position as argument (not a
+Note that this function takes a real-space position as argument (not a
 `~kwant.builder.Site`).
 
 We can now simply add all of the lattice points inside this shape at
@@ -327,9 +326,9 @@ provided by the lattice:
     :start-after: #HIDDEN_BEGIN_lcak
     :end-before: #HIDDEN_END_lcak
 
-Here, ``lat.shape()`` takes as a second parameter a (realspace) point
-that is inside the desired shape. The hoppings can still be added
-using `~kwant.builder.Builder.possible_hoppings` as before.
+Here, ``lat.shape()`` takes as a second parameter a (real-space) point that is
+inside the desired shape. The hoppings can still be added using
+`~kwant.builder.Builder.possible_hoppings` as before.
 
 Up to now, the system contains constant hoppings and onsite energies,
 and we still need to include the phase shift due to the magnetic flux.
@@ -369,7 +368,7 @@ Attaching the leads is done as before:
 In fact, attaching leads seems not so simple any more for the current
 structure with a scattering region very much different from the lead
 shapes. However, the choice of unit cell together with the
-translational vector allows to place the lead unambiguously in realspace --
+translational vector allows to place the lead unambiguously in real space --
 the unit cell is repeated infinitely many times in the direction and
 opposite to the direction of the translational vector.
 kwant examines the lead starting from infinity and traces it
diff --git a/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial4.rst b/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial4.rst
index fa6a7eb6021e9af7d57a44db9e72fabe0bcd17f6..14f91a044bd8b0c1ed0153f09130a5a800c55577 100644
--- a/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial4.rst
+++ b/doc/source/tutorial/tutorial4.rst
@@ -84,9 +84,9 @@ The leads are defined almost as before:
 
 Note the method `~kwant.lattice.PolyatomicLattice.vec` used in calculating the
 parameter for `~kwant.lattice.TranslationalSymmetry`.  The latter expects a
-real space symmetry vector, but for many lattices symmetry vectors are more
+real-space symmetry vector, but for many lattices symmetry vectors are more
 easily expressed in the natural coordinate system of the lattice.  The ``vec``
-method of lattices maps a lattice vector to a real space vector.
+method of lattices maps a lattice vector to a real-space vector.
 
 Observe also that the translational vectors ``graphene.vec((-1, 0))`` and
 ``graphene.vec((0, 1))`` are *not* orthogonal any more as they would have been
diff --git a/kwant/builder.py b/kwant/builder.py
index 2b674f5755a95497c68d544be28571f5dc1764a8..bf84586efcf44e1f086b17434047021f35b58f81 100644
--- a/kwant/builder.py
+++ b/kwant/builder.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class Site(tuple):
     Attributes
     ----------
     pos : sequence of numbers
-        The real space position of the site.  Used for plotting, for example.
+        The real-space position of the site.  Used for plotting, for example.
 
     Raises
     ------
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ class SiteGroup(object):
     this basic one.  They have to define the method `verify_tag`.
 
     Site groups which are intended for use with plotting should also provide a
-    method `pos(tag)`, which returns a vector with real space coordinates of
+    method `pos(tag)`, which returns a vector with real-space coordinates of
     the site belonging to this group with a given tag.
     """
     __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta
diff --git a/kwant/lattice.py b/kwant/lattice.py
index d8198efb6e59d7e89c31455634f9fd0795c35bc2..5183822d90ecfca15e6c8ee9b3375d617075d37c 100644
--- a/kwant/lattice.py
+++ b/kwant/lattice.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class PolyatomicLattice(object):
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        function : a boolean function of real space coordinates
+        function : a boolean function of real-space coordinates
             A function which evaluates to True inside the desired shape.
         start : real-valued vector
             The starting point to the flood-fill algorithm.  If the site
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ class MonatomicLattice(PolyatomicLattice, builder.SiteGroup):
         return ta.array(ta.round(ta.dot(pos - self.offset, self.inv_pv)), int)
 
     def pos(self, tag):
-        """Return the real space position of the site with a given tag."""
+        """Return the real-space position of the site with a given tag."""
         return ta.dot(tag, self.prim_vecs) + self.offset
 
 
diff --git a/kwant/plotter.py b/kwant/plotter.py
index a73ecc3495cfbf4db5353da98befc08e4532a4f7..b388c5849b388eb1a2e8d28f8b3182b8ee671576 100644
--- a/kwant/plotter.py
+++ b/kwant/plotter.py
@@ -710,7 +710,7 @@ def mask_interpolate(coords, values, a=None, method='nearest', oversampling=3):
     array : 2d numpy array
         The interpolated values.
     min, max : vectors
-        The real space coordinates of the two extreme ([0, 0] and [-1, -1])
+        The real-space coordinates of the two extreme ([0, 0] and [-1, -1])
         points of `array`.
 
     Notes
diff --git a/kwant/solvers/common.py b/kwant/solvers/common.py
index 5afbdf242a06f2293c6dcadacb156687fdf7f379..9503f5f56e0fb7553de082f0c203421b0e6d443e 100644
--- a/kwant/solvers/common.py
+++ b/kwant/solvers/common.py
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ class SparseSolver(object):
 
         Returns the Green's function elements between in_leads and
         out_leads. If the leads are defined as a self-energy, the result is
-        just the real space retarded Green's function between from in_leads
+        just the real-space retarded Green's function between from in_leads
         to out_leads. If the leads are defined as tight-binding systems,
         then Green's function from incoming to outgoing modes is
         returned. Also returned is a list containing the output of
diff --git a/kwant/system.py b/kwant/system.py
index eca41875c214169f997e5f74df388c034f592e0a..eca2ea6cb3f8cebc1d95a88ba09b32e3c4bc6e75 100644
--- a/kwant/system.py
+++ b/kwant/system.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class System(object):
     ``self.graph.num_nodes - 1``.
 
     Optionally, a class derived from `System` can provide a method `pos` which
-    is assumed to return the real space position of a site given its index.
+    is assumed to return the real-space position of a site given its index.
     """
     __metaclass__ = abc.ABCMeta