loose sentence

American  

noun

1. a sentence that does not end with the completion of its main clause, but continues with one or more subordinate clauses or other modifiers.

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Etymology

Origin of loose sentence

First recorded in 1890–95

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

loose sentence

With their loose sentence structure and the melodic give and take allowing a team approach to conversation I knew they were Guyanese.

From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline

Compare the following periodic sentence with the loose sentence under §87: Napoleon, feeling his weakness, and trying to win back popular favor by concession after concession, had, at his fall, nearly restored parliamentary government.

From Practical Grammar and Composition by Thomas Wood

A loose sentence formed with but can always be converted into a periodic sentence formed with although, as illustrated under Rule 4.

From A Foreword to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition by Juliet Helena Lumbard James

The following is a loose sentence: “I stood on the bridge at midnight, as the clocks were striking the hour.”

From The Art Of Writing & Speaking The English Language Word-Study and Composition & Rhetoric by Sherwin Cody

On account of its name many are liable to think the loose sentence an undesirable form in good composition, but this should not be taken for granted.

From How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin

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