periphrastic

A situation where two words are used together to create meaning. For example, the adjective “beautiful” is put into the superlative degree by adding a free morpheme “most”.  Together, these words make up a periphrastic.

In Greek, a form of ειμι is used with the participle to express a verbal idea. It is similar to the English progressive tense. BBG 30.14 Here are the different possibilities:

Tense/Aspect Auxiliary (*εἰμί*) Form Participle Form Voice Translation/Notes
Present Present Indicative Present Participle Active “He is loosing” (emphasizes ongoing action).
Present Indicative Present Participle Middle “He is loosing himself” or “He is being loosed” (middle/passive nuance).
Present Indicative Present Participle Passive “He is being loosed” (clear passive with context).
Imperfect Imperfect Indicative Present Participle Active “He was loosing” (continuous past action).
Imperfect Indicative Present Participle Middle/Passive “He was loosing himself” or “He was being loosed.”
Future Future Indicative Present Participle Active “He will be loosing” (rare, emphasizes intent or process).
Future Indicative Present Participle Middle/Passive “He will be loosing himself” or “He will be being loosed” (very rare).
Perfect Present Indicative Perfect Participle Active “He has loosed” or “He is in the state of having loosed” (stative aspect).
Present Indicative Perfect Participle Middle “He has loosed himself” or “He is in the state of having been loosed.”
Present Indicative Perfect Participle Passive “He has been loosed” or “He is in the state of having been loosed.”
Pluperfect Imperfect Indicative Perfect Participle Active “He had loosed” (past stative action).
Imperfect Indicative Perfect Participle Middle/Passive “He had loosed himself” or “He had been loosed.”
Future Perfect Future Indicative Perfect Participle Active “He will have loosed” (rare, future stative).
Future Indicative Perfect Participle Middle/Passive “He will have been loosed” (very rare).
Subjunctive (Rare) Present Subjunctive Present Participle Active “That he might be loosing” (hypothetical, uncommon).
Present Subjunctive Perfect Participle Passive “That he might be in the state of having been loosed” (very rare).
Optative (Archaic) Present Optative Present Participle Active “May he be loosing” (literary, rare in Koine).
Present Optative Perfect Participle Passive “May he be in the state of having been loosed” (extremely rare).

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