In this article the construction of consecutive verbs in Israeli Hebrew is presented. This construction includes synonymous (hendiadys) consecutive verbs (nakam ve-natar 'avenge and revenge' = "avenge") and modal consecutive verbs (hosif ve-amar 'add and say' = "say again"). Based on behavior tests, it is demonstrated that these are indeed constructions in the sense that their meanings do not amount to the sum of the meanings of their constituents. In the spirit of Stefanowitsch (1999 and 2000) it is suggested that the question of the number of events represented in the construction is not the main issue, and that there is a whole range of possibilities between a non-event and an event.

Focusing on the modal consecutive verbs, the paper claims that the form and the function of these verbs in Israeli Hebrew exhibit both continuities and discontinuities from its classical predecessors. Through an analysis of documented examples from informal spoken (and some written) Israeli Hebrew, it is suggested that the verbs halax ('go') and ba ('come') endow the modal consecutive verb construction with two dimensions of meaning: (a) a stable (semantic) meaning, which invests the action of the second verb with heightened agentivity, and (b) a contextual (pragmatic) meaning, which uses the semantic meaning to express the position of the speaker towards the event (criticizing, suggesting an action, emphasizing the authority of the speaker, etc.). Both the semantic and the pragmatic meanings are modal. A comparison to English shows that despite differences in details, the principle of double modality is applicable also to English. As for style and register, the construction prevails in the informal language, spoken as well as written, in a variety of topics and speech situations.

Here are two examples with ba:

Lavo ve-lehagid expresses criticism: "to have the audacity to say".

Lavo ve-lehagia expresses empowerment: "to take the initiative and get there".