Today's English Expression 13/30 · Stage: Receiving and Answering Reviews. All example sentences were made up for this post. They are not taken from actual repository comments, and commits and file names are examples.
Table of Contents
- At a Glance
- 1. Meaning and Nuance
- 2. Example Sentences
- 3. Similar Expressions and Differences
- 4. Common Mistakes Made by Koreans
- 5. One-Line Practice
- Model Answer
- Reference
At a Glance
| Expression | PTAL / Could you take another look? |
| Meaning | Could you take another look? (Since I've fixed it) |
| When to Use | PR comments after addressing review, review requests on Slack |
| Politeness | PTAL is short and neutral, Could you ...? is polite |
1. Meaning and Nuance
take a look means to look once, and take another look means to look again. PTAL is an abbreviation for please take a look or please take another look, widely used in the review culture. The Kubernetes contribution guide instructs users to leave comments like please take another look (PTAL) after reflecting review feedback.
The role of this expression is to pass the ball back to the reviewer. Since reviewers look at multiple PRs at the same time, just pushing your fixed commits might not let them know it is their turn to look again. A PTAL comment sends a notification and lets them know, "It is your turn now."
Because PTAL is an abbreviation, it is short and efficient, but when dealing with a reviewer for the first time or asking after a long time, it is more polite to spell it out like Could you take another look when you have a chance?. Phrases like when you have a chance or when you get a chance reduce the feeling of rushing.
The most important thing is to write what you changed together. If you only leave the single word PTAL, the reviewer has to figure out where to start looking again.
2. Example Sentences
Situation 1: PR comment after addressing review
Thanks for the review! I've addressed all comments: renamed the field, added the nil check, and moved the test to
webhook_test.go. PTAL.
Situation 2: Politely asking a specific reviewer
Could you take another look when you get a chance? The main change since your last review is the new retry logic in
client.go.
since your last review means "since the last review," which narrows down the scope to check again.
Situation 3: Slack review request channel
Hi! I updated the backup docs PR based on last week's feedback. PTAL if you have a moment: (PR link)
3. Similar Expressions and Differences
- Could you take a look? Used when requesting the initial review. Without another, it means "please take a look for the first time."
- Ready for another round. Meaning "ready for the next review round," used when reviews go back and forth multiple times.
- Gentle reminder. Used when there is no reply for a long time after a review request. Similar to friendly ping from episode 24.
4. Common Mistakes Made by Koreans
- Please review again ASAP. ASAP is a strong demand, so it sounds rude for an external contributor to use it with a maintainer.
- Corrected sentence: Could you take another look when you get a chance?
- I fixed. Please check. The object of fix is missing, and it is unclear what needs to be checked.
- Corrected sentence: I've fixed the issues you pointed out. PTAL.
- Please kindly take a look again at your convenience if possible. kindly, at your convenience, and if possible overlap, making it overly long.
- Corrected sentence: Could you take another look when you have a chance?
5. One-Line Practice
Rewrite the following Korean sentence into a PR comment.
I renamed the function and added tests as you said. Could you take another look when you have a chance?
Model Answer
As you suggested, I renamed the function and added tests. Could you take another look when you have a chance?
As you suggested naturally translates the Korean phrase. It also expresses gratitude by indicating that you followed the reviewer's suggestion.
Titi's Tip. If you include a line about "what was fixed" before PTAL, the reviewer will return faster.
Reference
- Kubernetes Contribution Guide, Pull Request Process (PTAL): https://github.com/kubernetes/community/blob/master/contributors/guide/pull-requests.md
- Merriam-Webster, "look" (take a look): https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/look