Perifrastisk

Perifrastisk, or periphrastic, is a grammar term used to describe constructions in which a grammatical category is expressed by multiple words rather than a single inflected form of a verb. The term philosophy comes from the idea of surrounding or encircling meaning with auxiliary words or circumlocution. It is closely related to the broader concept of periphrasis in linguistic description.

Periphrastic constructions serve several common functions. They are often used to express tense and aspect through auxiliary verbs, as well as mood and voice. They can form analytic tenses such as the present continuous (I am eating), the present perfect (I have eaten), and the future (will go or going to go). They also create periphrastic passive formations (The ball was thrown by John) with a form of be plus a past participle. In addition, periphrasis conveys modality (I have to go), habit or past action (I used to live there), and hypothetical or conditional meanings (If I were to go).

Examples illustrate how perifrastiska konstruktioner function across languages. In English, the present progressive I am reading expresses ongoing action; the future is often expressed with will or going to; the perfect aspect with have + past participle; the passive with be + past participle. Other languages rely heavily on periphrastic forms for tense, aspect, or mood, using auxiliary verbs and infinitival or participial phrases rather than extensive inflection of the main verb. While some languages favor synthetic, highly inflected verb forms, periphrasis remains a central tool for expressing temporal, evidential, or modal distinctions in many linguistic systems.