never

The word "never" makes an action or a situation negative.

• She is never coming back.
• It’s never easy to move to a new country.
• Frieda has never seen snow.
• Tom says he’s never going to work for a large company again.

It’s useful to contrast the use of "never" with "not." "Never" provides slightly more emphasis for the negative:

• He does not drink coffee.
• He never drinks coffee.
• I don’t ever go to bed early.
• I never go to bed early. (don’t ever = never)
• We didn’t get our mail.
• We never got our mail.
• It won’t work.
• I will never work.

The word "never" can go at the beginning of a command (the imperative form) suggesting advice or some form of instruction:

• Never watch a scary movie by yourself.
• Never use your right hand for this. Always use your left hand.
• Never ever do that again!

The word "never" is often used for the purpose of exaggeration, or it expresses the rarity of an occassion:

• He never comes on time. (But sometimes he does.)
• Things never work out for me. (But sometimes they do.)
• Wanda says she’s never going to get married. (But secretly that’s what she wants.)
• My train is never on time. (Really? I’m exaggerating.)
• We would never elect someone like Donald Trump as President. (But we did. Many people said it would never happen, but it happened.)

 Click here to learn more new vocabulary.

Date of publication: November 16, 2016