Sentences: Loose and Periodic

Sentence Types

Loose Sentence

A loose sentence is "a complex sentence in which the main clause comes first and the subordinate clause follows". The meaning of this type of sentence can be easily understood by the beginning of it, unlike a periodic sentence. The number of ideas in loose sentences can be easily increased by adding phrases and clauses that are related to either the main constructions or to a preceding subordinate one.[1] Loose sentences may seem informal, relaxed, and conversational. However, according to William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s book, Elements of Style (2000), a succession of loose sentences, especially those with two clauses, should be avoided because of “mechanical symmetry and sing-song”. Some examples of loose sentences include:

The bells rang, loud and clear.

The diamond sparkled, like sunlight on water.

Periodic Sentence

A periodic sentence is a sentence that is not grammatically complete until the final clause or phrase. These sentences delay their main idea until the end by adding modifiers or subordinate ideas first which holds the reader’s attention until the end. Delaying the completion of its meaning adds suspense or amplification but goes against the current preferences for brevity and simplicity, and therefore is used sparingly. An example of a periodic sentence can be found in the first stanza of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “Snowflakes”[2]:

“Out of the bosom of the Air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garment shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent and soft, and slow,
Descends the snow.”

The sentence begins with phrases, which are left incomplete until the last line when the subject/verb group appears and finalizes the statement, thus becoming grammatically correct.