diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
index 3d897ec4af7f6..0be4a61f27587 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/plans/physical/partitioning.scala
@@ -312,23 +312,31 @@ case class HashPartitioning(expressions: Seq[Expression], numPartitions: Int)
  * Represents a partitioning where rows are split across partitions based on transforms defined
  * by `expressions`. `partitionValues`, if defined, should contain value of partition key(s) in
  * ascending order, after evaluated by the transforms in `expressions`, for each input partition.
- * In addition, its length must be the same as the number of input partitions (and thus is a 1-1
- * mapping). The `partitionValues` may contain duplicated partition values.
+ * In addition, its length must be the same as the number of Spark partitions (and thus is a 1-1
+ * mapping), and each row in `partitionValues` must be unique.
  *
- * For example, if `expressions` is `[years(ts_col)]`, then a valid value of `partitionValues` is
- * `[0, 1, 2]`, which represents 3 input partitions with distinct partition values. All rows
- * in each partition have the same value for column `ts_col` (which is of timestamp type), after
- * being applied by the `years` transform.
+ * The `originalPartitionValues`, on the other hand, are partition values from the original input
+ * splits returned by data sources. It may contain duplicated values.
  *
- * On the other hand, `[0, 0, 1]` is not a valid value for `partitionValues` since `0` is
- * duplicated twice.
+ * For example, if a data source reports partition transform expressions `[years(ts_col)]` with 4
+ * input splits whose corresponding partition values are `[0, 1, 2, 2]`, then the `expressions`
+ * in this case is `[years(ts_col)]`, while `partitionValues` is `[0, 1, 2]`, which
+ * represents 3 input partitions with distinct partition values. All rows in each partition have
+ * the same value for column `ts_col` (which is of timestamp type), after being applied by the
+ * `years` transform. This is generated after combining the two splits with partition value `2`
+ * into a single Spark partition.
+ *
+ * On the other hand, in this example `[0, 1, 2, 2]` is the value of `originalPartitionValues`
+ * which is calculated from the original input splits.
  *
  * @param expressions partition expressions for the partitioning.
  * @param numPartitions the number of partitions
- * @param partitionValues the values for the cluster keys of the distribution, must be
- *                        in ascending order.
+ * @param partitionValues the values for the final cluster keys (that is, after applying grouping
+ *                        on the input splits according to `expressions`) of the distribution,
+ *                        must be in ascending order, and must NOT contain duplicated values.
  * @param originalPartitionValues the original input partition values before any grouping has been
- *                                applied, must be in ascending order.
+ *                                applied, must be in ascending order, and may contain duplicated
+ *                                values
  */
 case class KeyGroupedPartitioning(
     expressions: Seq[Expression],
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/BatchScanExec.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/BatchScanExec.scala
index ea080924ef332..932ac0f5a1b15 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/BatchScanExec.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/v2/BatchScanExec.scala
@@ -141,9 +141,9 @@ case class BatchScanExec(
             (splits.head.asInstanceOf[HasPartitionKey].partitionKey(), splits)
           })
 
-          // This means the input partitions are not grouped by partition values. We'll need to
-          // check `groupByPartitionValues` and decide whether to group and replicate splits
-          // within a partition.
+          // When partially clustered, the input partitions are not grouped by partition
+          // values. Here we'll need to check `commonPartitionValues` and decide how to group
+          // and replicate splits within a partition.
           if (spjParams.commonPartitionValues.isDefined && spjParams.applyPartialClustering) {
             // A mapping from the common partition values to how many splits the partition
             // should contain.