Periphrastic construction

Periphrastic comes from preposition περί (around) φράσις (phrase) and means a round about way of phrasing something. This is common in English where are helping verb like "will" is often used with another verb to convey a verbal idea. In greek this is less common because of the range of tense forms which can convey a wide variety of nuances but periphrastic constructions do exist with various forms (present, imperfect, future) of εἰμί together with a present or perfect participle.


 * An example is in John 3:23 Ἦν δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰωάννης βαπτίζων - Ἦν ... βαπτίζων was ... baptizing (Ἦν being imperfect, conveying an ongoing process). This could also have been rendered more straightforwardly as the imperfect ἐβάπτιζεν.
 * According to Mounce, this periphrastic construction originally served to emphasize the continuous force of the participle but by the koine period, this emphasis was often lost.
 * At the basic level, it suffices to be able to recognise such a construction when it is encountered.
 * Like an imperfect verb in a historical narrative. the periphrastic with an imperfect like in John 3:23 serves to set the scene for the rest of the story.