Syntax & Word Order
Periodic Sentence
A sentence that delays its main clause or completion until the end, placing subordinate material first. The reader waits for the main statement to resolve the preceding conditions or details.
"Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit / Of that forbidden tree… Sing, Heav'nly Muse." — Milton
Don't confuse it with. The loose/cumulative sentence is its opposite: main clause first, modifiers trailing after.
Examples
Although the roads were flooded, although the lights had failed, and although no help had arrived, we stayed.
The main clause “we stayed” arrives only after three dependent clauses.
Often used alongside this device
Explore devices that often appear in the same passages as periodic sentence.
Anaphora 7 Parataxis 5 Antithesis 4 Chiasmus 4 Personification 3 Irony 3 Polysyndeton 3 Metonymy 3
The rest of the family
Hyperbaton Anastrophe Cumulative (Loose) Sentence Parataxis Parenthesis Apposition / Appositive Zeugma Hendiadys Pleonasm Enumeration / Accumulatio Passive Voice Cleft Sentence