How to Use NEVER and EVER Correctly Basic English Grammar

hi everybody my name is Alisha today I’m

going to talk about the difference or
some of the differences between the

words never and ever there are a lot of
questions about how to use these words

so let’s take a look okay the first word
I want to start with is never let’s talk

about never to begin never is an adverb
it means at no time in the past or in

the future never is the contracted form
of the words not and ever so not an ever

together make never never so never means
at no time at no time we use never in a

few different situations I’m going to
explain some examples now we use never

to give statements or to give advice or
to explain a statement rather so let’s

look at a couple examples first never
skip breakfast never skip breakfast is

an example of advice this is advice or
perhaps we could consider this a command

so never skip breakfast meaning at no
time should you or should one skip

breakfast never skip breakfast as a
command or a type of advice in this case

in a statement however we see this
example I never travel with lots of cash

so this is a statement of fact in this
case I’m using the present tense

I never travel you can use the past
tense I’ve never traveled as well but

keep in mind never shows at no time do I
travel in present tense in this case

with lots of cash so this is an example
of a statement a simple statement with

the word never okay let’s look at
another way to use the word never we use

never in in cases where we want to
explain an absence of experience so no

experience no life experience with
something so we use this with the past

participle verb so it’s never with the
past participle form of the verb in

these patterns for example
I’ve never been to Vietnam here I’ve got

the contracted eyes which is the
contracted form of I have I have never

been to Vietnam Binh is my past
participial verb here another example

he’s never eaten kimchi so here
the contraction he’s is he is refers to

he I’m sorry the contracted form of he’s
refers to he has in this sentence so

he’s never eaten kimchi he has never
eaten kimchi my past participle verb is

eaten here so we use these to talk about
no experience no life experience with

something this one is maybe one that
many of you have had a lot of practice

with okay but let’s look at another one
that requires some changes to your

intonation perhaps when we ask questions
for confirmation as in yes or no

questions we can use the word never so
keep in mind that these expressions are

used with kind of a nuance of disbelief
or surprised you’re surprised about

something and you’re asking the question
just to check with the other person is

this correct for example you’ve never
been sick so the emphasis here is on the

word never with the voice you’ve never
been sick again you can see I have the

past participle form of the verb here so
we’re saying you have never been meaning

have the experience of you have never
had the experience of being sick and

here I’ve used a very informal kind of
punctuation I’ve used a question mark

and an exclamation point
but generally we should only use one

type of punctuation here but with your
voice you should emphasize the word

never the new ones here is disbelief
let’s look at another example

she’s never taken a day off she’s never
taken a day off so again with my voice I

emphasized the word never she’s never
taken a day off so I’m surprised by this

information I’m surprised to hear and I
want to confirm because it sounds like

it could be untrue it sounds like it
might not be real so I use this

to confirm what I’ve just heard or what
I’ve just learned when you answer these

questions by the way
sometimes it’s a little bit difficult

even for native speakers to decide
should I say yes or no if you want to be

very clear you can say that’s right
I’ve never been sick in this example or

that’s right she’s never taken a day off
you can use that’s right or you’re right

or yes that’s right to explain an answer
to this question okay so those are a few

examples of ways we can use the word
never in some sentence patterns let’s

take a look now at the word ever so ever
has a few more situations then never

does I want to explain these today so
first again ever

like never is an adverb but ever means
at any time or at all times keep in mind

that never means at no time at no time
ever means at any time or at all time so

you can think of these a little bit as
opposites in a way we use ever when

we’re making questions so for example
have you ever eaten Thai food or has she

ever called you here we see the words
ever meaning at anytime so at any time

has she called you at any time have you
eaten Thai food this is a different way

to ask the question so you’ll notice
these types of questions will get these

kinds of responses a negative response
admittedly but there’s a connection here

when you want to make a negative
response you can use never so these are

some may be example questions this type
of question maybe you’re familiar with

again we see the past participle form of
the verb in these questions sentences

eaten and called here so this is one way
that we can use the word ever and

another way we can use it when we make
negative statements let’s take a look at

some examples
first he hasn’t ever yelled at me so

here’s ever and they haven’t ever been
to France so once more we see this past

participle form of the verb yelled and
been in these examples but we see also

I’m using the negative has not and have
not so there’s this negative not before

the word ever here please keep in mind
you can use never in these situations

but you need to change the sentence
slightly so you can use the negative

form as we have here plus ever like has
not ever or have not ever or you can

simply use the word never mmm for
example he’s never yelled at me or

they’ve never been to France because
remember the word never is a contraction

of the words not and ever so regardless
of which you choose both sentences are

okay both sentences explain the same
meaning okay let’s look at another

example superlatives superlatives
remember superlatives means like the

most something the most plus an
adjective so the highest level of

something
for example she made the most delicious

chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten the most
delicious chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten

so here is a superlative most delicious
and here I’m saying in my life the most

delicious one I have ever eaten you
might also see this sentence simplified

to she made the most delicious chocolate
cake ever this ever contains the meaning

I’ve ever eaten I’ve ever eaten so
native speakers like to simplify this

expression at the end of the sentence
with just the word ever

you might hear this another very common
example is this expression best day ever

meaning today for me was the best day in
my life

best day ever best day ever so you might
see this with superlatives here the

superlative is best best okay we also
see the word ever used when we talk

about the first time to do something our
first time doing something for example

this is the first time I’m sorry this is
the first time I’ve ever traveled abroad

forgot my ever there
this is the first time I’ve ever

traveled abroad so here ever acts as an
emphasize ER for first time so the

sentence this is the first time I’ve
traveled abroad is fine actually

but ever emphasizes that the first time
at my in my whole life in other words at

all times this is the first time I’ve
ever traveled abroad you’ll see ever

acting kind of to emphasize the
expression in first time sentences we

can use ever when we make comparisons so
I talked about the superlative form here

like most delicious or best in my
examples but you’ll see here in the

expressions higher than ever or faster
than ever or stronger than ever we can

use ever to make the comparison so here
we also use van van so ever here is

meaning at any time in the past anytime
previous to this statement so for

example profits are higher than ever
ever referring to any time in the past

or these cars are faster than ever
meaning at any time in the past compared

to any time in the past the cars
available now are faster so we can use

ever to make comparisons quite easily to
next let’s look at some commands so

there’s a fairly limited number of
natural commands that we use with the

word ever but some examples might be
don’t ever say that or don’t ever lie to

me again this same rule negative plus
ever or never this can also apply here

so for example never say that or never
lie to me we can use those expressions

to you’ll just see these two don’t ever
or don’t ever say that or don’t ever lie

to me these might be a couple of other
ways people use the expression people

use a command form but again the same
rule applies negative plus ever alright

almost finished let’s take a look at
adjectives intensifiers you might see

this in more formal situations or
perhaps in slightly old-fashioned

writing
ever can act as an adjective intensifier

when used with a word so so ever so +
adjective for example ever so delicious

this cake was ever so delicious
or she was ever so kind these just

emphasize the adjective that follows so
they they’re just essentially meaning

very really or extremely but they sound
quite formal they sound rather polite

though so we can use ever to intensify
to strengthen the meaning of an

adjective okay those are the main points
I want to talk about but one final thing

is the expression never ever a couple
examples I never ever eat junk food or

he never ever comes to work late or we
never ever forget to lock the house

these sentences use both never and ever
together so let’s take a look what does

this mean actually never ever is just an
emphasis for the word never so meaning

at no time anytime does this thing
happen so it’s an emphasis for the word

never
that’s what never ever never ever means

emphasis emphasis never ever means
emphasis on the word never so if you see

this that’s what it means okay so those
are a few ways that you can reuse the

words never and ever of course there are
many different situations in many

different sentences where you can use
these if you have any questions or

comments please feel free to let us know
in the comment section below this video

what else I guess that’s it okay so
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