diff --git a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/ast/Desugar.scala b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/ast/Desugar.scala
index 8b8e0b3186a2..639dac930b6f 100644
--- a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/ast/Desugar.scala
+++ b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/ast/Desugar.scala
@@ -1051,7 +1051,7 @@ object desugar {
         elems foreach collect
       case Alternative(trees) =>
         for (tree <- trees; (vble, _) <- getVariables(tree))
-          ctx.error("illegal variable in pattern alternative", vble.pos)
+          ctx.error(IllegalVariableInPatternAlternative(), vble.pos)
       case Annotated(arg, _) =>
         collect(arg)
       case InterpolatedString(_, segments) =>
diff --git a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/reporting/diagnostic/messages.scala b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/reporting/diagnostic/messages.scala
index f76512bc72e1..2913f4f4c49c 100644
--- a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/reporting/diagnostic/messages.scala
+++ b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/reporting/diagnostic/messages.scala
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@ package reporting
 package diagnostic
 
 import dotc.core._
-import Contexts.Context, Decorators._, Symbols._, Names._, Types._
+import Contexts.Context, Decorators._, Symbols._, Names._, NameOps._, Types._
 import ast.untpd.{Modifiers, ModuleDef}
 import util.{SourceFile, NoSource}
 import util.{SourcePosition, NoSourcePosition}
 import config.Settings.Setting
 import interfaces.Diagnostic.{ERROR, WARNING, INFO}
+import dotty.tools.dotc.ast.tpd
 import printing.Highlighting._
 import printing.Formatting
 
@@ -605,4 +606,76 @@ object messages {
            |${"func(bool => // do something...)"}
            |""".stripMargin
   }
+  case class WrongNumberOfArgs(fntpe: Type, argKind: String, expectedArgs: List[TypeParamInfo], actual: List[untpd.Tree])(implicit ctx: Context)
+    extends Message(22) {
+    val kind = "Syntax"
+    val expectedCount = expectedArgs.length
+    val actualCount = actual.length
+    val msgPrefix = if (actualCount > expectedCount) "Too many" else "Not enough"
+
+    //TODO add def simpleParamName to TypeParamInfo
+    val expectedArgString = fntpe.widen.typeParams.map(_.paramName.unexpandedName.show).mkString("[", ", ", "]")
+
+    val actualArgString = actual.map(_.show).mkString("[", ", ", "]")
+
+    val prettyName = fntpe.termSymbol match {
+      case NoSymbol => fntpe.show
+      case symbol   => symbol.showFullName
+    }
+
+    val msg =
+      hl"""|${NoColor(msgPrefix)} ${argKind} arguments for $prettyName$expectedArgString
+           |expected: $expectedArgString
+           |actual:   $actualArgString""".stripMargin
+
+    val explanation = {
+      val tooManyTypeParams =
+        """|val tuple2: (Int, String) = (1, "one")
+           |val list: List[(Int, String)] = List(tuple2)""".stripMargin
+
+      if (actualCount > expectedCount)
+        hl"""|You have supplied too many type parameters
+             |
+             |For example List takes a single type parameter (List[A])
+             |If you need to hold more types in a list then you need to combine them
+             |into another data type that can contain the number of types you need,
+             |In this example one solution would be to use a Tuple:
+             |
+             |${tooManyTypeParams}""".stripMargin
+      else
+        hl"""|You have not supplied enough type parameters
+             |If you specify one type parameter then you need to specify every type parameter.""".stripMargin
+    }
+  }
+
+  case class IllegalVariableInPatternAlternative()(implicit ctx: Context)
+    extends Message(23) {
+    val kind = "Syntax"
+
+    val msg = hl"""|Variables are not allowed in alternative patterns"""
+
+    val explanation = {
+      val varInAlternative =
+        """|def g(pair: (Int,Int)): Int = pair match {
+           |  case (1, n) | (n, 1) => n
+           |  case _ => 0
+           |}""".stripMargin
+
+      val fixedVarInAlternative =
+        """|def g(pair: (Int,Int)): Int = pair match {
+           |  case (1, n) => n
+           |  case (n, 1) => n
+           |  case _ => 0
+           |}""".stripMargin
+
+      hl"""|Variables are not allowed within alternate pattern matches.
+           |You can workaround this issue by adding additional cases for each alternative.
+           |For example, the illegal function:
+           |
+           |$varInAlternative
+           |could be implemented by moving each alternative into a separate case:
+           |
+           |$fixedVarInAlternative""".stripMargin
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/ErrorReporting.scala b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/ErrorReporting.scala
index 1d22dc6465ed..a18c83ff8cd3 100644
--- a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/ErrorReporting.scala
+++ b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/ErrorReporting.scala
@@ -49,8 +49,8 @@ object ErrorReporting {
     errorMsg(ex.show, ctx)
   }
 
-  def wrongNumberOfArgs(fntpe: Type, kind: String, expected: Int, pos: Position)(implicit ctx: Context) =
-    errorType(em"wrong number of ${kind}arguments for $fntpe, expected: $expected", pos)
+  def wrongNumberOfArgs(fntpe: Type, kind: String, expectedArgs: List[TypeParamInfo], actual: List[untpd.Tree], pos: Position)(implicit ctx: Context) =
+    errorType(WrongNumberOfArgs(fntpe, kind, expectedArgs, actual)(ctx), pos)
 
   class Errors(implicit ctx: Context) {
 
diff --git a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/TypeAssigner.scala b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/TypeAssigner.scala
index 861847b11d79..b1fed308cfd0 100644
--- a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/TypeAssigner.scala
+++ b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/TypeAssigner.scala
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ trait TypeAssigner {
     val ownType = fn.tpe.widen match {
       case fntpe @ MethodType(_, ptypes) =>
         if (sameLength(ptypes, args) || ctx.phase.prev.relaxedTyping) fntpe.instantiate(args.tpes)
-        else wrongNumberOfArgs(fn.tpe, "", ptypes.length, tree.pos)
+        else wrongNumberOfArgs(fn.tpe, "", fntpe.typeParams, args, tree.pos)
       case t =>
         errorType(i"${err.exprStr(fn)} does not take parameters", tree.pos)
     }
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ trait TypeAssigner {
         else {
           val argTypes = args.tpes
           if (sameLength(argTypes, paramNames) || ctx.phase.prev.relaxedTyping) pt.instantiate(argTypes)
-          else wrongNumberOfArgs(fn.tpe, "type ", pt.paramNames.length, tree.pos)
+          else wrongNumberOfArgs(fn.tpe, "type", pt.typeParams, args, tree.pos)
         }
       case _ =>
         errorType(i"${err.exprStr(fn)} does not take type parameters", tree.pos)
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ trait TypeAssigner {
     val ownType =
       if (hasNamedArg(args)) (tycon.tpe /: args)(refineNamed)
       else if (sameLength(tparams, args)) tycon.tpe.appliedTo(args.tpes)
-      else wrongNumberOfArgs(tycon.tpe, "type ", tparams.length, tree.pos)
+      else wrongNumberOfArgs(tycon.tpe, "type", tparams, args, tree.pos)
     tree.withType(ownType)
   }
 
diff --git a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/Typer.scala b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/Typer.scala
index 6fb0dd7c7e6a..56c04c063716 100644
--- a/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/Typer.scala
+++ b/src/dotty/tools/dotc/typer/Typer.scala
@@ -1035,7 +1035,7 @@ class Typer extends Namer with TypeAssigner with Applications with Implicits wit
         if (hasNamedArg(args)) typedNamedArgs(args)
         else {
           if (args.length != tparams.length) {
-            wrongNumberOfArgs(tpt1.tpe, "type ", tparams.length, tree.pos)
+            wrongNumberOfArgs(tpt1.tpe, "type", tparams, args, tree.pos)
             args = args.take(tparams.length)
           }
           def typedArg(arg: untpd.Tree, tparam: TypeParamInfo) = {