Today's English Expression 12/30 · Stage: PR Description. All example sentences were created for this post. They are not taken from actual repositories, and branches and numbers are examples.
Table of Contents
- At a Glance
- 1. Meaning and Nuance
- Example Sentences
- 3. Similar Expressions and Differences
- 4. Common Mistakes Made by Koreans
- 5. One-Line Practice
- Model Answers
- References
At a Glance
| Expression | Rebased onto main (to resolve conflicts). |
| Meaning | Rebased the branch onto the latest commit of main (to resolve conflicts). |
| Where to Use | PR comments, review replies, reviewer requests |
| Politeness | Neutral. It is a work report. |
1. Meaning and Nuance
Rebase is a Git command name that has become a verb. It is the action of detaching the commits on your branch and re-applying them onto another commit . That is why the preposition onto , meaning "onto", is used. Rebase onto main means "re-apply on top of the end of main". Although rebase on main is sometimes used in everyday speech, using onto gives a more accurate picture, just like the Git documentation uses the option name --onto .
The reason reviewers want to know this is because rebase changes commit hashes . Pushing a rebased branch requires a force push, and on GitHub's PR page, the previously seen commits appear to have vanished. Therefore, a single line letting reviewers know that "the code content is the same, only the base has been updated" saves the reviewer's time.
It is also good to know the difference from merge. Merge main into my branch creates a merge commit that combines main into your branch. Rebase keeps the history as a single line without merge commits. Which one is preferred depends on the repository. The contributing documentation for CloudNativePG states that GitHub is configured for linear development without merge commits. In such repositories, rebase is the default.
When performing a force push, it is a good habit to use git push --force-with-lease . Since it rejects the push if the remote branch differs from the state you last saw, it prevents maintainers from accidentally deleting commits they added to your branch.
2. Example Sentences
Scenario 1: After resolving a conflict
Rebased onto main to resolve the conflict in
go.mod. No other changes.
Adding No other changes lets reviewers know they do not need to review anything else.
Scenario 2: When requested by a reviewer
Could you rebase onto the latest main? #3300 changed the same function and CI is failing on this branch.
Scenario 3: When rebase and code modifications are mixed
Rebased onto main and addressed the review comments. The only new change is in
validate.go; everything else is from the rebase.
By distinguishing between the changes caused by the rebase and your direct fixes, you help reviewers focus only on what they need to re-examine.
3. Similar expressions and differences
- Merged main into this branch. This means a merge commit was created. Repositories that prefer a linear history may ask you to rebase again.
- Force-pushed. This reports that a force push was performed. You can also apologize in advance for force-pushing during a review, such as with Sorry for the force-push.
- Synced with upstream. This is a broader term meaning the fork has been synchronized with the original repository. It does not specify whether a rebase or a merge was used.
4. Common mistakes made by Korean speakers
- I updated the branch to latest. It is unclear what "latest" refers to, or whether it was a rebase or a merge.
- Revised sentence: Rebased onto the latest main.
- I did rebase. Instead of using "do", "rebase" is used directly as a verb.
- Revised sentence: I've rebased the branch.
- Rebased to main. While not strictly incorrect, "onto" describes the action more accurately.
- Revised sentence: Rebased onto main.
5. One-line Practice
Rewrite the following Korean sentences into PR comments.
Rebased onto the latest main to resolve conflicts. No code changes.
Sample Answer
Rebased onto the latest main to resolve conflicts. No code changes.
"Conflicts" is generally used in the plural to cover conflicts across multiple files. If there is only one, use "the conflict".
A word from Titi. Letting reviewers know that commit hashes have changed in a single line saves them from having to re-read everything from the beginning.
Reference
- Git 문서, git-rebase: https://git-scm.com/docs/git-rebase
- Git 문서, git-push(
--force-with-lease): https://git-scm.com/docs/git-push - CloudNativePG, Contributing to the source code: https://github.com/cloudnative-pg/cloudnative-pg/blob/main/contribute/README.md