10 — Professional dev writing: commits, PRs, Slack, comments

What this fixes for you: this is the capstone. It takes every grammar rule from the earlier lessons and applies it to the things you actually type all day — commit messages, pull requests, code review comments, Slack standups, code comments, and emails. Get these right and your work reads as senior, no matter your accent or first language.

The rule in 30 seconds

• Commits: imperative mood, capitalized first word, no period at the end of the subject line. “Fix null guard on checkout” — not “fixed the null guard.” or “fixes null”.
• PRs, comments, Slack, docs: write complete sentences — capital letter at the start, full stop at the end, no texting shortcuts (u, ur, pls).
• Be specific, not blunt: in reviews, say what’s wrong and suggest the fix. “This throws when input is null” beats “this wrong.”
• Code comments and docstrings: present tense, full sentence. “Returns the cached price.” — not “return cached price” or “this is returning…”

Why this trips you up

You’re a fast typist under deadline, so texting habits leak into work writing — lowercase i, u for you, no full stops, and long run-on sentences that chain clauses with no commas. You also tend to drop the small words: articles (open pull request instead of open a pull request) and plural -s (“so much mistake” instead of “so many mistakes”). None of these break the build, but together they make solid engineering work look unpolished. The fixes are mechanical — once you see the pattern, you stop making the mistake.

See it / fix it

❌ What you tend to write	✅ Correct	Why
fixed the bug in cart	Fix cart total when quantity is zero	Commit subject: imperative mood, capitalized, specific, no period.
Update readme.	Update README with setup steps	Drop the trailing period in the subject; say what changed.
i opened pull request for review	I opened a pull request for review.	Capital I; add the article a; end with a full stop.
this wrong (review comment)	This looks like it will throw when input is null — should we guard it?	Complete sentence, names the problem, suggests a fix politely.
u need to handle ur error here	You need to handle your error here.	No texting (u/ur); capital first word; full stop.
i did reaseach on the grammer issue	I did research on the grammar issue.	Spelling: research, grammar; capital I.
there is so much mistake in this PR	There are so many mistakes in this PR.	Countable noun: many mistakes; verb agrees (are).
// return cached price	// Returns the cached price.	Code comment: present tense, full sentence, capitalized.
standup: did login fix, doing cart, blocked on api	Yesterday I finished the login fix. Today I'm working on the cart. I'm blocked on the API.	Full sentences with punctuation read as a clear update.
plan grammar docs for as per that	I'll plan the grammar docs based on that.	Fix word order and the awkward “for as per that”.
pls review when u get time thanks	Please review when you get a chance. Thanks!	No pls/u; add the article; clean sign-off.
error: cannot process (error message)	Could not process the file. Please try again.	User-facing text: complete sentence, plain-language recovery.

Patterns to remember

The commit subject formula: <Verb in imperative> <what> [<where/condition>]

• Test: the subject should finish the sentence “If applied, this commit will…”. → ”…Fix cart total when quantity is zero.” ✅
• Imperative verbs to start with: Add, Fix, Remove, Update, Refactor, Rename, Bump, Document, Revert.
• ❌ Added, Fixes, Fixing, fix → ✅ Add, Fix (capitalized, base form).
• No period at the end of the subject. Periods are fine in the body.

Commit body (after a blank line): explain why, in full sentences. The diff already shows what changed; the body should answer why it needed changing.

Much vs many (your recurring one):

Uncountable → much	Countable → many
much code, much work, much progress	many bugs, many mistakes, many tests
much feedback, much research	many commits, many endpoints, many files

If you can put a number in front of it (3 bugs), it’s countable → use many and add the -s.

Articles in one line: use a/an for one unspecified thing (open a PR), the for a specific known thing (merge the PR you opened). When in doubt with a singular countable noun, it almost always needs a, an, or the in front.

Spelling watchlist: grammar (not grammer), research (not reaseach), separate, definitely, occurred, received, environment, length.

In your daily writing

• Commits: one imperative line under ~50 characters, capitalized, no period. If the why isn’t obvious, add a blank line and a body in full sentences.
• PRs: the title is a commit-style summary. The description answers three questions in complete sentences: What does this change? Why is it needed? How did you do it (and how can a reviewer test it)?
• Code review comments: never just “wrong” or “no.” State the issue, then propose a path: “This will fail for empty arrays — can we default to []?” Questions feel collaborative; commands feel harsh.
• Slack / standup: treat it like a short report, not a text to a friend. Capital letters, full stops, no u/ur. Three sentences: yesterday, today, blockers.
• Code comments & docstrings: present tense, full sentence, describe behavior. “Validates the upload and returns the relative path.”
• Emails: greeting (Hi Sarah,) → one clear ask → sign-off (Thanks, Pravin). Don’t bury the request in the middle.

Drills

1. Rewrite as a proper commit subject: fixed the issue where login was failing sometimes.
2. Rewrite as a proper commit subject: adding new endpoint for invoices
3. Fix this sentence: i think there is so much bug in this function we should add test.
4. Fix the review comment so it’s polite and specific: this wrong, change it
5. Fix the Slack message: done with cart, starting checkout now, blocked on payment gateway
6. Choose A or B: We should (A) open pull request / (B) open a pull request before merging.
7. Fix spelling and capitalization: i did reaseach on the grammer rules and made a doc.
8. Rewrite as a present-tense code comment: // this is checking if the user is logged in
9. Fill the blank with much or many: There were too ______ failing tests to release today.
10. Fill the blank with much or many: We don’t have ______ time before the deadline.
11. Polish this email line into a greeting + clear ask + sign-off: pls deploy the branch when u can thanks
12. Fix the run-on into clean sentences: i opened the PR it has the cart fix and the null guard can u review it today.

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Answer key

1. Fix intermittent login failure — imperative verb, capitalized, specific, no trailing period.
2. Add invoices endpoint — imperative Add (not adding); concise; no period.
3. I think there are so many bugs in this function. We should add tests. — capital I; countable many bugs; verb are; full stop splits the run-on; plural tests.
4. This looks wrong to me — I think it breaks when the list is empty. Could we guard it? — names the problem, suggests a fix, stays polite with a question.
5. Yesterday I finished the cart. Today I'm starting checkout. I'm blocked on the payment gateway. — three full sentences, capitalized, punctuated; adds the.
6. B — open a pull request; a singular countable noun needs an article.
7. I did research on the grammar rules and made a doc. — spelling research and grammar; capital I; article the.
8. // Checks whether the user is logged in. — present tense, full sentence, capitalized; drop the wordy “this is checking.”
9. many — tests are countable, so too many.
10. much — time is uncountable, so not much time.
11. Hi [name], could you deploy the branch when you get a chance? Thanks, Pravin — greeting, clear ask as a polite question, sign-off; no pls/u.
12. I opened the PR. It has the cart fix and the null guard. Could you review it today? — split into three sentences; capital I; you not u; the last clause becomes a polite question.

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Part of the Developer English course — see 00-index.md.