The Peshitta employs a periphrastic construction ܘܓܚܟܝܢ ܗܘܘ (wə-gaḥkīn hwaw, 'and they were laughing'), using the auxiliary verb ܗܘܘ to express the imperfect aspect, whereas Greek uses the simple imperfect κατεγέλων and Latin the imperfect irridebant without auxiliary.