What's the difference between 'merge' and 'rebase'?

Merge combines two branches and creates a new 'merge commit.' Rebase replays your commits on top of another branch, keeping history linear. Merge is safer for shared branches; rebase is cleaner for local branches.

What is a merge conflict?

A merge conflict happens when two branches changed the same code and Git can't automatically decide which version to keep. You must manually resolve it by choosing which changes to keep.

Can I merge a branch into itself?

No, that doesn't make sense. You merge one branch INTO another. You can't merge a branch into itself.

Is 'merge' the same as 'pull request'?

Not exactly. A pull request is a request to review and merge code. The actual 'merge' is the final action that combines the branches after approval.

What does 'squash and merge' mean?

It combines all commits from a branch into a single commit before merging. This keeps the main branch's history clean and easier to read.

Usually maintainers or team leads have permission to merge. Sometimes anyone can merge their own PRs, depending on your team's rules.

What Does 'Merge' Mean in Git? | Speak Tech English

Say it like this

✓Can you merge this PR?

✓This is ready to merge.

✓We merged the feature branch yesterday.

✓There's a merge conflict here.

✓Let's merge main into develop first.

✓That commit is merged to production.

Real examples

Code Review

"The PR looks good—I'll merge it as soon as the tests pass."

Slack

"Hey, can you merge the payment feature? We want to ship it today."

Standup

"I finished the authentication work and merged it to main this morning."

GitHub PR

"Conflicts resolved. Ready to merge once CI passes."

Jira Ticket

"Merged to staging for QA testing. Expected in production next Wednesday."

Retrospective

"We should have merged to develop earlier to catch that bug sooner."

Interview

"In my last project, I handled merging feature branches daily and resolving merge conflicts."

Don't say this

✕I merged my code to the main file.

✓I merged my branch into main.— In Git, you merge branches, not individual files. The phrase should use 'branch' and 'into' not 'to'.

✕Can you merge this code?

✓Can you merge this PR? / Can you merge this branch?— You merge branches or pull requests, not 'code.' Be specific about what you're merging.

✕We need to merge the changes together.

✓We need to merge the branch. / We need to merge the changes.— Don't say 'merge together'—it's redundant. Just 'merge' alone is clear and natural.

Other forms

verb (base form)

merge

"Let's merge this feature before the sprint ends."

verb (past tense)

merged

"I merged the PR yesterday afternoon."

verb (present participle)

merging

"We're merging the develop branch into main right now."

noun

merge

"This merge introduces three new API endpoints."

adjective

merged

"The merged code is now in production."

Often used with

merge a branchThe most common usage—combining one branch into another.

merge a pull request / PRFinalizing a code review and integrating the changes.

merge conflictWhen two branches modify the same code and Git can't automatically combine them.

merge into mainIntegrating changes into the primary production branch.

ready to mergeCode that has passed tests and is approved for integration.

merge requestThe GitLab term for what GitHub calls a 'pull request.'

Similar words

integrateMore formal term for bringing changes together. 'Integrate the feature' = 'merge the feature.' Used in formal documentation.

combineGeneric term. 'Combine the branches' works but is less technical than 'merge.'

incorporateSimilar formality to 'integrate.' Slightly older usage, less common in modern Git workflows.

squashDifferent—squash combines multiple commits into one before merging, used to keep history clean.

Opposites

divergebranch (off)revertsplit

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the Natural Phrase

1. Your teammate asks about integrating the feature branch. Which response sounds most natural?

I can merge this branch into main.I can merge this code into the main file.I can merge this feature to main.

Spot the Mistake

2. Which sentence has an error?

The PR is ready to merge once the tests pass.We merged the changes together into production.This merge introduces five new endpoints.

Fill in the Blank

3. Complete the sentence: 'Can you _______ this branch into main before we ship?'

Rewrite for Natural English

4. Rewrite this awkwardly: 'I want to merge my code to the main file together with John's code.' Make it sound natural and technical.

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "merge" in a standup this week?

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