diff --git a/R/subscript-loc.R b/R/subscript-loc.R
index c327b40d3..d078a9ec9 100644
--- a/R/subscript-loc.R
+++ b/R/subscript-loc.R
@@ -541,15 +541,16 @@ cnd_body_vctrs_error_subscript_oob_location <- function(cnd, ...) {
   ))
 }
 cnd_body_vctrs_error_subscript_oob_name <- function(cnd, ...) {
-  elt <- cnd_subscript_element(cnd, capital = TRUE)
+  elt <- cnd_subscript_element(cnd, capital = FALSE)
+  elt_cap <- cnd_subscript_element(cnd, capital = TRUE)
   oob <- cnd$i[!cnd$i %in% cnd$names]
   oob_enum <- enumerate(glue::backtick(oob))
 
   format_error_bullets(c(
     x = glue::glue(ngettext(
       length(oob),
-      "{elt[[1]]} {oob_enum} doesn't exist.",
-      "{elt[[2]]} {oob_enum} don't exist."
+      "Can't find {elt[[1]]} {oob_enum}.",
+      "Can't find {elt[[2]]} {oob_enum}.",
     ))
   ))
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/conditions.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/conditions.md
index 488facd19..9585cc890 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/conditions.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/conditions.md
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't subset elements.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
     Code
       (expect_error(with_subscript_data(vec_slice(set_names(letters), "foo"), quote(
         foo)), class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob"))
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't subset elements with `foo`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
     Code
       (expect_error(with_subscript_data(vec_slice(set_names(letters), "foo"), quote(
         foo(bar))), class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob"))
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't subset elements with `foo(bar)`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
 
 # scalar type errors are informative
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice-assign.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice-assign.md
index c820e2923..521224451 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice-assign.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice-assign.md
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error:
       ! Can't assign elements.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
 
 # must assign with proper negative locations
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice.md
index 4bf52fc57..a9d364f4e 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/slice.md
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@
     Condition
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't subset elements with `i`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
 
 ---
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@
     Condition
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't subset elements with `i`.
-      x Elements `foo` and `bar` don't exist.
+      x Can't find elements `foo` and `bar`.
 
 ---
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@
     Condition
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't subset elements with `i`.
-      x Elements `A`, `B`, `C`, `D`, `E`, etc. don't exist.
+      x Can't find elements `A`, `B`, `C`, `D`, `E`, etc..
 
 # vec_init() validates `n`
 
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/subscript-loc.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/subscript-loc.md
index e91acdcec..35dabb469 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/subscript-loc.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/subscript-loc.md
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error:
       ! Can't subset elements with `"foo"`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
     Code
       (expect_error(vec_as_location2("foo", 1L, names = "bar"), class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob")
       )
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error:
       ! Can't extract element with `"foo"`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
     Code
       (expect_error(vec_as_location2("foo", 1L, names = "bar", call = call("baz")),
       class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob"))
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `baz()`:
       ! Can't extract element with `"foo"`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
 
 # vec_as_location2() requires length 1 inputs
 
@@ -897,7 +897,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't subset elements with `i`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
     Code
       # With custom `arg`
       (expect_error(vec_as_location(30, length(letters), arg = "foo", call = call(
@@ -915,7 +915,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `my_function()`:
       ! Can't subset elements with `foo`.
-      x Element `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find element `foo`.
     Code
       # With tibble columns
       (expect_error(with_tibble_cols(vec_slice(set_names(letters), "foo")), class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob")
@@ -924,7 +924,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't rename columns with `foo(bar)`.
-      x Column `foo` doesn't exist.
+      x Can't find column `foo`.
     Code
       (expect_error(with_tibble_cols(vec_slice(set_names(letters), 30)), class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob")
       )
@@ -951,7 +951,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't remove rows with `foo(bar)`.
-      x Rows `foo` and `bar` don't exist.
+      x Can't find rows `foo` and `bar`.
     Code
       (expect_error(with_tibble_rows(vec_slice(set_names(letters), 1:30)), class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob")
       )
@@ -980,7 +980,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't select columns with `foo(bar)`.
-      x Columns `foo` and `bar` don't exist.
+      x Can't find columns `foo` and `bar`.
     Code
       (expect_error(with_tidyselect_select(vec_slice(set_names(letters), 30)), class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob")
       )
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@
       <error/vctrs_error_subscript_oob>
       Error in `vec_slice()`:
       ! Can't relocate columns with `foo(bar)`.
-      x Columns `foo` and `bar` don't exist.
+      x Can't find columns `foo` and `bar`.
     Code
       (expect_error(with_tidyselect_relocate(vec_slice(set_names(letters), 30)),
       class = "vctrs_error_subscript_oob"))