(main):

Include the word `fail' in some diagnostics to make it clearer
that they indicate a failure.
s/getting attributes/failed to get attributes/

src/chown.c

@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
       struct stat ref_stats;
 
       if (stat (reference_file, &ref_stats))
-	error (1, errno, _("getting attributes of %s"), quote (reference_file));
+	error (1, errno, _("failed to get attributes of %s"),
+	       quote (reference_file));
 
       uid = ref_stats.st_uid;
       gid = ref_stats.st_gid;