What's the difference between 'comprise' and 'consist of'?

'Comprise' and 'consist of' are similar but used differently. 'Comprise' takes a direct object: 'The system comprises three modules.' 'Consist of' requires the preposition: 'The system consists of three modules.' A common mistake is 'is comprised of'—while widely used, purists prefer 'comprises' or 'is composed of.'

What's a good transition phrase to move between sections in a PRD?

Use 'This brings us to...' for a smooth transition: 'This brings us to our next consideration: the testing strategy.' Other options include 'I shall now address...' or 'Having discussed X, we now turn to Y.'

How do I pronounce 'preface' when used as a verb?

'Preface' is pronounced /ˈprefɪs/ with stress on the first syllable: PREF-is. A common error is saying 'pree-FACE.' Example: 'I'd like to preface this RFC with some context on our current architecture.'

When should I use 'reiterate' vs 'summarize' in technical writing?

Use 'reiterate' when repeating a specific point for emphasis: 'I want to reiterate that this is P0 priority.' Use 'summarize' when condensing multiple points: 'To summarize, we're proposing three major changes.' Reiterate = repeat for emphasis; summarize = condense main points.

How formal should a PRD or design doc be?

PRDs and design docs should be professional but not overly formal—aim for clear, direct language. However, executive summaries for leadership should use more formal vocabulary. Match the tone of similar documents in your organization, and remember that clarity always trumps formality.

How to Structure Technical Documents in English

Q: How do I professionally say something is not covered in my document?

Use 'beyond the scope of this document' or 'outside the scope of this discussion.' For example: 'Cost projections are beyond the scope of this design doc.' This acknowledges the topic's importance while clearly excluding it from the current document.

Why Document Structure Matters in Tech

Whether you're writing a PRD for a new feature, drafting an RFC for a system redesign, or documenting an incident post-mortem, how you structure your document is just as important as what you write. Clear structure helps busy stakeholders—engineering managers, product leads, executives—find the information they need quickly.

This article covers the vocabulary and phrases you need to write well-structured technical documents that sound professional and are easy to navigate. You'll learn how to introduce topics, connect sections, exclude material gracefully, and draw strong conclusions.

Key Vocabulary for Structuring Documents

These terms help you signal document structure to your readers. Native speakers use them naturally in design docs, technical reports, and formal emails.

Term	Definition	Tech Example
preface (v.)	introduce with background context	I'd like to preface this RFC with some context on why we're revisiting our caching strategy.
address (v.)	focus on or deal with a topic	Section 3 addresses the security implications of the proposed architecture.
touch upon	mention briefly without detail	This doc will touch upon testing strategy, but a separate QA plan will follow.
beyond the scope	outside the topic area of this document	Database migration details are beyond the scope of this PRD.
return to	come back to discuss later	I shall return to the performance trade-offs in the Alternatives section.
bring us to	transition to the next topic	This brings us to our next consideration: rollback strategy.
conclude (v.)	draw final insights or decisions	We conclude that Option B offers the best balance of speed and maintainability.
ascending/descending order	arranged from least to most (or vice versa)	Requirements are listed in descending order of priority.

When to Use 'Beyond the Scope'

Use 'beyond the scope of this document' to professionally exclude topics without seeming dismissive. It tells readers you're aware of the issue but it's not the focus here. Example: 'Cost projections are beyond the scope of this design doc—please see the attached budget proposal.'

Explaining, Reinforcing, and Summarizing

Technical documents often need to emphasize key points, restate complex ideas, or summarize decisions. These verbs help you do that professionally.

Term	Meaning	Tech Context
reiterate	repeat to emphasize	I want to reiterate that this migration must complete before Q4 freeze.
summarize	briefly state main facts	To summarize: we're proposing a move from monolith to microservices.
underscore	emphasize importance	The outage underscores the need for better monitoring.
epitomize	be a perfect example of	This bug epitomizes the technical debt we've accumulated.
expound	explain in detail	The architecture doc expounds our approach to horizontal scaling.
account for	explain the cause of	We need to account for the spike in latency during peak hours.

Use 'reiterate' when repeating a critical point in a PRD conclusion: 'To reiterate, this feature is blocked by the API redesign.'
Use 'underscore' to emphasize lessons learned in post-mortems: 'This incident underscores the importance of canary deployments.'
Use 'account for' when explaining anomalies in data or system behavior.

Categorizing and Including Information

When organizing technical content, you often need to describe what's included, how items are grouped, or what percentage of something is composed of various parts.

Term	Usage	Example
comprise / make up	consist of (parts)	The platform comprises three main services: auth, billing, and notifications.
is comprised of	is composed of	The release is comprised of 47 bug fixes and 12 new features.
consist of	be made up of (always + of)	The test suite consists of unit tests, integration tests, and E2E tests.
embrace	cover or include (formal)	This roadmap embraces both infrastructure upgrades and user-facing features.
subsume	bring together under one category	These three tickets can be subsumed under a single epic.
categorize	label as belonging to a type	We categorize incidents by severity: P0, P1, P2, P3.

Common Grammar Mistake: 'Consist'

'Consist' is ALWAYS followed by 'of' when describing components. Say: 'The system consists of three modules' — NOT 'consists three modules' or 'consists in three modules.'

Weak vs. Strong: Common Document Structure Mistakes

Here are common phrasing mistakes heard in tech writing—and how to improve them for clearer, more professional documents.

❌ Heard at Work (Weak)	✅ Better English (Strong)
I won't talk about security here.	Security considerations are beyond the scope of this document.
Now I want to talk about testing.	This brings us to our testing strategy.
Let me say again that this is urgent.	I want to reiterate that this is a P0 priority.
I'll come back to this later.	I shall return to this point in the Alternatives section.
This doc has a lot of stuff.	This document embraces architecture, rollout, and monitoring.
The system has three parts.	The system comprises three core components.

Slack vs. Formal Docs: Register Differences

The vocabulary you use depends on the context. Slack messages and quick syncs can be informal, but PRDs, RFCs, and executive summaries require a more formal register.

💬 Informal (Slack/Standup)	📄 Formal (PRD/RFC/Report)
Quick heads up before we dive in...	I should like to preface this proposal with some context...
We'll circle back to that	I shall return to this point later in the document
That's not what this is about	This topic is beyond the scope of this discussion
Bottom line: we should go with Option A	We are forced to conclude that Option A is the optimal choice
This covers a bunch of things	This document embraces multiple considerations
Moving on to the next thing...	This brings us to our next area of discussion

Culture Note: Know Your Audience

In most US tech companies, PRDs and design docs can be semi-formal—professional but not stiff. However, executive summaries for leadership or external stakeholders should use more formal vocabulary. When in doubt, match the tone of similar documents in your organization.

Workplace Scenarios: Putting It Into Practice

Let's look at how these phrases work in real tech workplace situations.

Scenario 1: Structuring a PRD — 'I'd like to preface this PRD with our user research findings. Section 2 addresses the core user problem. Implementation details are beyond the scope of this document—those will be covered in the design doc. To summarize, we're proposing a new onboarding flow that should reduce churn by 15%.'
Scenario 2: Writing an Executive Summary — 'This report summarizes the findings of our Q3 infrastructure audit. The analysis embraces security, performance, and cost optimization. We conclude that migrating to Kubernetes will reduce operational overhead by 30%. I shall return to the cost-benefit analysis in Appendix A.'
Scenario 3: Reviewing Document Structure — In a doc review, you might comment: 'This section touches upon caching but doesn't go deep enough—consider expanding or linking to a separate doc. Also, the arguments should be in descending order of importance so leadership sees the key points first.'

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How to Structure Technical Documents in English at Work