diff --git a/test/v2/errors/__init__.py b/test/v2/errors/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..674334b15a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/v2/errors/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# (c) 2012-2014, Michael DeHaan <michael.dehaan@gmail.com>
+#
+# This file is part of Ansible
+#
+# Ansible is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Ansible is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+
diff --git a/test/v2/errors/test_errors.py b/test/v2/errors/test_errors.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..874195e476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/v2/errors/test_errors.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# TODO: header
+
+import unittest
+
+from mock import mock_open, patch
+
+from ansible.parsing.yaml.objects import AnsibleBaseYAMLObject
+from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
+
+class TestErrors(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.message = 'this is the error message'
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        pass
+
+    def test_basic_error(self):
+        e = AnsibleError(self.message)
+        assert e.message == self.message
+
+    def test_error_with_object(self):
+        obj = AnsibleBaseYAMLObject()
+        obj._data_source   = 'foo.yml'
+        obj._line_number   = 1
+        obj._column_number = 1
+
+        m = mock_open()
+        m.return_value.readlines.return_value = ['this is line 1\n', 'this is line 2\n', 'this is line 3\n']
+        with patch('__builtin__.open', m):
+            e = AnsibleError(self.message, obj)
+
+        assert e.message == 'this is the error message\nThe error occurred on line 1 of the file foo.yml:\nthis is line 1\n^'
diff --git a/v2/ansible/errors/__init__.py b/v2/ansible/errors/__init__.py
index ae629ba4bb..54406ef6c2 100644
--- a/v2/ansible/errors/__init__.py
+++ b/v2/ansible/errors/__init__.py
@@ -15,15 +15,46 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with Ansible.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
+import os
+from ansible.parsing.yaml.objects import AnsibleBaseYAMLObject
+
 class AnsibleError(Exception):
-    def __init__(self, message, object=None):
-         self.message = message
-         self.object = object
+    def __init__(self, message, obj=None):
+        self._obj     = obj
+        if isinstance(self._obj, AnsibleBaseYAMLObject):
+            extended_error = self._get_extended_error()
+            if extended_error:
+                self.message = '%s\n%s' % (message, extended_error)
+        else:
+            self.message = message
 
-    # TODO: nice __repr__ message that includes the line number if the object
-    # it was constructed with had the line number
+    def __repr__(self):
+        return self.message
 
-    # TODO: tests for the line number functionality
+    def _get_line_from_file(self, filename, line_number):
+        with open(filename, 'r') as f:
+            lines = f.readlines()
+            if line_number < len(lines):
+                return lines[line_number]
+        return None
+
+    def _get_extended_error(self):
+        error_message = ''
+
+        try:
+            (src_file, line_number, col_number) = self._obj.get_position_info()
+            error_message += 'The error occurred on line %d of the file %s:\n' % (line_number, src_file)
+            if src_file not in ('<string>', '<unicode>'):
+                responsible_line = self._get_line_from_file(src_file, line_number - 1)
+                if responsible_line:
+                    error_message += responsible_line
+                    error_message += (' ' * (col_number-1)) + '^'
+        except IOError:
+            error_message += '\n(could not open file to display line)'
+        except IndexError:
+            error_message += '\n(specified line no longer in file, maybe it changed?)'
+
+        return error_message
 
 class AnsibleParserError(AnsibleError):
     ''' something was detected early that is wrong about a playbook or data file '''
diff --git a/v2/ansible/parsing/yaml/objects.py b/v2/ansible/parsing/yaml/objects.py
index cc9fc445d2..5870ea8cbe 100644
--- a/v2/ansible/parsing/yaml/objects.py
+++ b/v2/ansible/parsing/yaml/objects.py
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ class AnsibleBaseYAMLObject(object):
     _line_number   = None
     _column_number = None
 
+    def get_position_info(self):
+        return (self._data_source, self._line_number, self._column_number)
+
 class AnsibleMapping(AnsibleBaseYAMLObject, dict):
     ''' sub class for dictionaries '''
     pass