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Anonymous Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
never + past simple
Hi! I am stuck with a very strange sentence and can´t decide which grammatical rule to go for.
There is a sentence which goes: ´My grandfather died 30 years ago. I......(never/meet) him.´
I am torn between two rules! One says that if there is no chance fo rthe situation to change the past simple tense will be used (e.g. 'She has written 5 books' if an author is still alive and we can imagine that she writes another book, and 'She wrote five books' if the author has deceased and there is no chance of him having a different number of books on her record in the future). So I would go for past simpe here, because I will positively never meet my grandfather.
BUT the 'never' confuses me. Is a sentence with never and past simple next to each other absolutely correct? I can't help feeling that it sounds a bit coloquial.
All answers will be very very appreciated, please!!
There is a sentence which goes: ´My grandfather died 30 years ago. I......(never/meet) him.´
I am torn between two rules! One says that if there is no chance fo rthe situation to change the past simple tense will be used (e.g. 'She has written 5 books' if an author is still alive and we can imagine that she writes another book, and 'She wrote five books' if the author has deceased and there is no chance of him having a different number of books on her record in the future). So I would go for past simpe here, because I will positively never meet my grandfather.
BUT the 'never' confuses me. Is a sentence with never and past simple next to each other absolutely correct? I can't help feeling that it sounds a bit coloquial.
All answers will be very very appreciated, please!!
Top answer
'I never met him' is correct. You may also hear/say – with a look/intonation of regret or wistfulness – 'I never did meet him'.
- 'I never met him' is correct.
- You may also hear/say – with a look/intonation of regret or wistfulness – 'I never did meet him'.
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1 Answers
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'I never met him' is correct.
You may also hear/say – with a look/intonation of regret or wistfulness – 'I never did meet him'.
You may also hear/say – with a look/intonation of regret or wistfulness – 'I never did meet him'.
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