5 exercises on the language of a pull request from open to merge — the precise git and GitHub collocations that describe every stage of a PR.
Key patterns
open a draft PR → share work-in-progress
rebase a branch onto main → replay commits cleanly
resolve conflicts → reconcile clashing changes
request review / ping a reviewer → move it forward
mark as ready → invite full review; a stale PR → inactive
0 / 5 completed
1 / 5
A developer has work that is not finished but wants teammates to see it early for informal input, without inviting a formal review yet. What is the idiomatic action?
Open a draft PR — sharing work-in-progress:
You open (or create) a pull request; a draft PR is explicitly marked unfinished so reviewers know not to do a full review yet.
"I've opened a draft PR — just want early eyes on the API shape."
"Still WIP, so I left it as a draft."
"I'll open the PR as a draft first."
Lifecycle verbs around opening:
open / create / raise a PR — begin the process
push to a branch — upload commits that appear in the PR
mark as draft / mark as ready — toggle review readiness
Why the distractors fail: "sketch", "trial", and "beta" PRs are invented terms. The real GitHub status is literally "Draft", and the verb that pairs with it is open or create. Saying "open a draft PR" instantly reads as fluent to any team.
2 / 5
A reviewer asks the author to update their feature branch so it sits on top of the latest main, replaying their commits cleanly. Which collocation describes this?
Rebase a branch — replaying commits for a clean history:
To rebase a branch (often onto or on top ofmain) is to replay your commits on the latest base, producing a linear history.
"Please rebase onto main to pick up the latest fixes."
"I rebased and force-pushed — history is clean now."
"We rebase feature branches before merging."
Contrast the verbs:
rebase — replay commits on a new base (rewrites history).
merge main into your branch — pulls changes in, creating a merge commit (no rewrite).
reset — move the branch pointer (often --hard/--soft); not about syncing with main.
Common pairing:rebase & force-push, resolve conflicts during a rebase. "Refresh" and "reload" aren't git terms, and "reset" denotes a distinct operation, so they don't fit.
3 / 5
After a rebase, git reports that the same lines changed on both branches. The author has to manually reconcile them. What is the exact phrase?
Resolve conflicts — reconciling clashing changes:
When two branches edit the same lines, git produces merge conflicts, which you must resolve by choosing or combining the changes.
"I'm resolving the conflicts in routes.ts now."
"There are merge conflicts — please resolve them before I re-review."
"Conflict resolved; I kept both changes."
Related vocabulary:
a merge conflict / conflicting changes — the noun phrases.
conflict markers — the <<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>> lines.
abort the merge/rebase — back out and start over.
Why "resolve": in English you solve a problem but resolve a conflict or a dispute. Git tooling reinforces this — files are listed as "unresolved" until fixed. "Repair" and "clear" simply aren't the collocations professionals use.
4 / 5
A PR is ready for eyes. The author formally asks a colleague to review it, and later sends a polite nudge because there has been no response. Which two phrases are standard?
Request review & ping a reviewer — moving a PR forward:
Request (a) review is the formal action of assigning reviewers; ping is the accepted, friendly verb for a gentle reminder.
"I've requested review from @sam and @alex."
"Gentle ping — could you take a look when free?"
"I'll re-request review after addressing the comments."
The nudge family (mildest to firmest):
ping / gentle reminder — friendly nudge.
follow up — chase a pending item professionally.
bump — push a message back to the top: "Bumping this PR."
Why the distractors fail: "demand" and "order" sound hostile; "poke", "buzz", and "book a review" aren't the team vocabulary. ping is technical-culture standard (it comes from the network utility) and is perfectly polite when paired with "gentle" or "when you have a moment".
5 / 5
Two situations: (1) the work is finished and the author flips the draft to invite real review; (2) a PR has sat untouched for weeks with no activity. Which terms describe each?
Mark as ready & stale PR — the end of the lifecycle:
When a draft is complete, you mark it as ready (for review) — GitHub's literal button. A PR with no recent activity is described as stale.
"I've marked it as ready — please review."
"This PR has gone stale; let's rebase or close it."
"Our bot flags any stale PR after 14 days of inactivity."
Lifecycle wrap-up vocabulary:
mark as draft / mark as ready — toggle readiness.
stale — inactive, may be auto-labelled or auto-closed.
close (without merging) — abandon a PR.
reopen — revive a previously closed PR.
Why these terms: "stale" is the exact word used by GitHub Actions like actions/stale, and "ready" matches the UI. The distractors ("rotten", "frozen", "dead", "set as final") are either invented or overstate the situation — a stale PR is dormant, not necessarily dead.