How do we use never in English?

Never and ever are opposites and have different uses in English. This week, the focus is on never…

Never is often used when making statements. For example, “I never want to go ice skating again,” whereas ever is often used when asking questions. For example, “Have you ever eaten crocodile?”

How do we use never

We use never when we want to say ‘at no time’, or, ‘not at any time’.

For example, here are six examples of how we would use never in sentences:

• ‘She never lets anyone down.’
• ‘She never goes to the gym.’
• ‘Your idea will never work.
• ‘He will never learn to fly a helicopter no matter how much he practices.’
• “I heard you went bungee-jumping yesterday.” Reply: “Yes. I never want to do that again!”
• “You said it was going to be hot today!” Reply: “No, I never said that.”