Referring to the previous/next commit in git?

Question

I have seen git commands use a syntax such as HEAD~, but I haven\'t been able to find this syntax in the Git Reference Manual.

Here is what I have under

Answer 1

Inspired by @cexbrayat's answer, I find it useful to think of it this way:

How to refer to something in a commit's ancestry, where a commit can have multiple parents:

• ^n specifies which parent

• ~n specifies which generation

Both default to one.