A Loose sentence is one in which there is no attempt to show suspense; the different parts may come in where natural ease of expression suggests.
A Balanced sentence is one in which contrasting thoughts are stated in similar forms. Example: God made the country and man made the town.
The periodic and the balanced sentence are likely to result in artificiality of expression unless used with care. The loose sentence gives ease and naturalness, but these desirable qualities may easily change to slovenliness of expression in the hands of a careless writer.
Sentences, like paragraphs, should show unity, massing, and coherence.
Unity demands that the sentence shall have one main idea. The unity of a sentence is destroyed by putting together ideas that should be separated, by making the wrong idea subordinate, or by making ideas coördinate that are not of equal importance.
Examples of lack of unity:—
1. The words are very simple and I think it very strange that a tinker could write such a good book.
2. We went up the main road about half a mile, when we came to a pasture.
Massing in the sentence demands that the main thought shall be placed where it will “readily catch the eye.”