Periodic sentence

A periodic sentence holds back its main clause, or the completion of it, until the final words, so the meaning only resolves at the full stop.

After the third lawyer, after the fourth set of forms, after a year of being told the file had been mislaid, she got the apology.

Nothing resolves until the last four words. The reader carries three phrases, each promising something, before the sentence says what they were for. That is a periodic sentence: the detail comes first, and the main clause is held back until the end.

A handy way to remember it: the meaning is not complete until you reach the period (the full stop).

Periodic sentence definition (AP Lang)

A periodic sentence places its main clause, the independent clause that could stand alone, at the end, after the modifiers, phrases or dependent clauses that lead up to it. Because the sentence cannot be complete until the last words, the emphasis lands there.

There is a second version. Sometimes the subject comes early but the verb that completes it is delayed by everything wedged in between:

The letter, forwarded twice, opened by the wrong neighbour and resealed with tape, finally arrived.

It is still periodic, because the thought only closes at the end.

Periodic sentence structure

The basic structure is [build-up] + [main clause]. Three ways to build one:

• Front-load dependent clauses. Because the road was closed and the last ferry had gone, they walked.
• Stack initial modifiers. Soaked, furious and out of excuses, he knocked.
• Delay the verb, as in the letter example above, or invert the usual word order (see anastrophe).

Periodic sentence examples

The main clause is in bold in each.

1. If you had asked me a year ago, before the move, before any of this, I would have said no. The conditions pile up and the answer lands last.
2. Of everyone in that room, the teachers, the parents, the three police officers, only the janitor noticed. A list that ends on the least expected name.
3. Tired as she was, she ran. Periodic sentences can be very short. Two words of payoff.
4. When the lights came back on and the music stopped and everyone turned to look at the stage, the chair was empty. A natural shape for a reveal.

Down the stairs, past the sleeping dog, through the kitchen where the tap still dripped, and out into the wet grass, Leo carried the box he had promised never to open.

Why it works: the route delays the action, so the reader moves through the house with him and learns what he is carrying only at the end.

Periodic sentence examples in literature and speeches

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The opening of the Declaration of Independence (1776). A long when clause comes first, and the main clause (a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires...) does not start until the sentence is nearly over.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:1, King James Bible. Two conditions first, then the main clause as the verdict.

Periodic vs loose sentences

The loose sentence is the opposite shape: main clause first, detail after.

• Periodic: After a year of letters and three lawyers, she got the apology.
• Loose: She got the apology, after a year of letters and three lawyers.

The loose version tells you the result and then the history. The periodic version makes you live through the history to reach the result. To tell them apart, find the main clause and try a full stop straight after it. If the sentence still stands, it is loose. If nothing is complete until the end, it is periodic.

The cumulative sentence is a kind of loose sentence, so it runs the opposite way to a periodic one. And periodic is not the same as complex: complex counts the clauses, periodic describes where the main one sits.

When to use a periodic sentence

• Suspense and reveals. It is a natural fit for suspense and for the last line of a chapter.
• Emphasis. It is the most emphatic shape English offers, because it spends everything on reaching its final words.
• Formal argument and speeches. It sounds deliberate, which is why it turns up in openings and conclusions.

In a rhetorical analysis essay, say what the delay does: By withholding the main clause until the end, the writer makes the reader weigh every grievance before reaching the demand. In your own essays, a single periodic sentence works well for a thesis or a closing line.

Common mistakes

• A weak payoff. A long build-up that ends on a flat word is worse than a plain sentence. Make the last words the strongest.
• Too long to hold. If the reader forgets the start before the end arrives, split it.
• Too many in a row. A page of periodic sentences is exhausting. Save the shape for the sentence that matters.
• A dangling opener. Soaked and furious, the door finally opened. The door was not soaked. The first noun after the modifiers must be the thing they describe. See dangling modifier.

Frequently asked questions

What is a periodic sentence in AP Lang?

In AP English Language, a periodic sentence is one whose main clause comes at the end, after the modifying phrases or dependent clauses. The sentence is not grammatically or logically complete until its final words, which puts the emphasis there.

What is an example of a periodic sentence?

'Because the road was closed and the last ferry had gone, they walked.' The reader has to take in both reasons before learning what happened, and the main clause 'they walked' arrives last.

What is the difference between a periodic and a loose sentence?

A loose sentence gives the main clause first and adds detail after it, so it could stop early and still make sense. A periodic sentence gives the detail first and the main clause last, so it cannot stop early.

Why do writers use periodic sentences?

To build suspense and to put weight on a single idea. Delaying the main point makes the reader wait for it, and the end of a sentence is where emphasis naturally falls.

Is every complex sentence periodic?

No. A complex sentence has a dependent clause, which can sit before or after the main clause. It is only periodic when the dependent material comes first and the main clause finishes the sentence.