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English Writing Guide for Programmers: Phrases and Sentence Patterns

25 sentences 5 stages

Programmers create English every day: commit messages, pull request descriptions, code comments, API docs, issue reports and emails to teammates abroad. Writing that reads poorly is rarely a vocabulary problem; it is a matter of not knowing the fixed patterns of these genres. This deck covers 50 core writing words grouped into five themes: commits and reviews, comments and naming, technical docs, issues and errors, and email and collaboration. Every word comes with a real writing example, plus 25 sentence patterns you can reuse right away. Sentences are grouped by stage, and every line is ready to reuse. Tap the speaker to hear it, or open the listen page for shadowing.

🎧 Listen and repeat 📚 Word list

Commit and review Comments and naming Technical docs Issues and errors Email and collaboration

Commit and review 5

Fix the null pointer when the config file is missing.

修复配置文件缺失时的空指针问题。

Add retry logic for the payment callback.

为支付回调增加重试逻辑。

Rename the variable for clarity; no behavior change.

为提升可读性重命名变量，无行为变更。

Could you take a look when you have time?

你有空的时候能看一下吗？

Nit: this line is longer than the linter limit.

小意见：这行超过了 linter 的长度限制。

Comments and naming 5

Returns the cached page, or nil if it is not in the cache.

返回缓存页面；若不在缓存中则返回 nil。

TODO: extract this block into a helper once the API is stable.

待办：等接口稳定后把这段抽成公共方法。

The name should describe what it returns, not how it works.

命名要说明返回什么，而不是怎么实现。

Avoid comments that simply repeat the code.

避免写只是重复代码本身的注释。

Mark it as deprecated and point to the replacement.

标记为已弃用，并指向替代方案。

Technical docs 5

This section explains how to configure the service.

本节说明如何配置该服务。

Here is a minimal example you can copy.

这里有一个可以直接复制的最小示例。

Note that the API is rate limited to 100 requests per minute.

注意该接口限流为每分钟 100 次。

Prerequisites: Go 1.24 and a running MySQL instance.

前置条件：Go 1.24 和一个可用的 MySQL 实例。

See the troubleshooting section if the port is already in use.

如果端口被占用，请查看故障排查章节。

Issues and errors 5

Steps to reproduce: open the settings page and click save.

复现步骤：打开设置页并点击保存。

Expected: the form saves. Actual: the page reloads and data is lost.

预期：表单保存成功。实际：页面刷新且数据丢失。

I can reproduce it on iOS 17 but not on Android.

我在 iOS 17 上能复现，安卓上不能。

As a workaround, clear the local cache.

临时方案是清空本地缓存。

This looks like a regression from the last release.

这看起来是上个版本引入的回归缺陷。

Email and collaboration 5

Thanks for the quick turnaround.

感谢快速处理。

Sorry for the late reply; I was travelling.

抱歉回复晚了，我在出差。

Just to clarify, we need the change before Friday.

澄清一下，我们需要在周五之前完成改动。

I have added the details to the attached document.

我已经把细节补充在附件文档里。

I will follow up if I do not hear back by Thursday.

如果周四前没有回复，我会再跟进一次。

🎬 Scenario Dialogues

🎬 2 complete dialogues Two speakers · bilingual · per-line playback · role play ›

❓ FAQ

Do I need to memorise all 25 sentences?

No. Pick one or two lines per stage first. The stages here are: Commit and review, Comments and naming, Technical docs, Issues and errors, Email and collaboration. Come back to the rest when you actually need them.

How do I practise so it sounds natural?

Open the listen page, play the whole set once, then shadow sentence by sentence at 0.8x speed. Finally turn the text away and say it from memory.

What if my pronunciation is off?

Tap the speaker next to any sentence and repeat it. Audio uses your browser's built-in speech synthesis, so the voice varies by device.