A loose sentence is a type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases.

Effect

Loose sentences may make a work seem informal, relaxed, and conversational. However, according to Strunk and White's The Elements of Style

The Elements of Style

The Elements of Style , also known as Strunk & White, by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, is a prescriptive American English writing style guide comprising eight "elementary rules of usage", ten "elementary principles of composition", "a few matters of form", a list of forty-nine "words and...

(2000), a succession of loose sentences, especially those of two clauses, is to be avoided because of "mechanical symmetry and sing-song".

Examples

• He went into town to buy groceries, visit his friends and go to the bookstore.
• "Bells rang, filling the air with their clangor, startling pigeons into flight from every belfry, bringing people into the streets to hear the news." (From the English Reviewer)
• She drove her car to go to the movies, and got gas.
• "I have been assured by a very knowing American friend of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nourished is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked or boiled; and I make no doubt it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout." Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal