diff --git a/rdflib/plugins/parsers/ntriples.py b/rdflib/plugins/parsers/ntriples.py
index 7c8530e50..9283b822c 100644
--- a/rdflib/plugins/parsers/ntriples.py
+++ b/rdflib/plugins/parsers/ntriples.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ def eat(self, pattern):
         if not m:  # @@ Why can't we get the original pattern?
             # print(dir(pattern))
             # print repr(self.line), type(self.line)
-            raise ParseError("Failed to eat %s at %s" % (pattern, self.line))
+            raise ParseError("Failed to eat %s at %s" % (pattern.pattern, self.line))
         self.line = self.line[m.end():]
         return m