The Sense of Style
The Sense of Style by Steven Pinkerby Steven Pinker and José C. Vales
Ranked 4 of 6 writing guides by recommenders
Recommended for explaining the principles behind clear sentence construction, including why some long sentences work. One critic found its Classical Style section confusing and disorganized.
Recommended for explaining the principles behind clear sentence construction, including why some long sentences work. One critic found its Classical Style section confusing and disorganized.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Explains underlying principles of good writing
“explained the actual principle behind making an understandable run-on”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “The great shift of English prose” “it does a good job anchoring its suggestion in first principals”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “How to Write with an LLM” Puts long-sentence impressions into words
“I think this very neatly puts into words some impressions that I've had about these long sentences.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “The great shift of English prose”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Classical Style section confusing and disorganized
“I found his description of Classical Style very confusing and disorganized.”
Comment from 19 Sep 2026 in “How to Write with an LLM”
Other writing guides people recommend
The four most recommended other writing guides, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Elements of Styleby William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White | 12 | 10 | 55% | 8 | — | — |
| On Writingby Stephen King | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| On Writing Wellby William Knowlton Zinsser | 4 | 1 | 80% | 3 | — | — |
| The Sense of Styleby Steven Pinker and José C. ValesThis page | 3 | 1 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Writing for Developersby Piotr Sarna and Cynthia Dunlop | 2 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I found his description of Classical Style very confusing and disorganized.”
“it does a good job anchoring its suggestion in first principals”
“I think this very neatly puts into words some impressions that I've had about these long sentences.”
“explained the actual principle behind making an understandable run-on”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.