0

I'm reading and learning an example dialog and can't understand the meaning of this phrase: You sit there staring at the screen and taking to yourself. You never even combed your hair. You look like a madman

"Never ... combed" means "didn't ... combed"? If yes, why didn't they write "didn't"? Why we need "never" here?

Thank you much

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    It's just a way of adding extra emphasis and a sense of reproach to "You haven't combed your hair". It doesn't mean that the person has never in their life combed their hair.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 9:19
  • Thank you for your answer)
    – Bari
    Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 12:39

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

You are correct. In such a context, never can be thought of the same as did not or didn't. We use it when we wish to intensify the emotional quality of the statement. Never is frequently paired with even when we wish to intensify the statement a lot.

You example communicates an emotional feeling kind of like this:

You did not comb your hair, and this failure disappoints me.

But notice that never continues to function as an adverb. Unlike "did not," it does not change the form of the verb that follows: the verb must still be conjugated in the ordinary fashion. The following pair illustrates the difference:

He did not comb his hair. [comb is a bare infinitive following "did"]
He never combed his hair. [combed is a finite verb with the past tense marker "ed."]

The following is wrong:

*He never comb his hair.

Obviously, never can be used in the ordinary sense of at no time. The distinction will usually be clear from context:

Friend: Have you ever been to the park?
Me: No, I never have. [At no time in my entire life have I been to the park.]

Friend: You're old enough. Did you ever see the Beatles in concert?
Me: No, I never did. [At no time in my entire life did I ever see the Beatles, and I never will.]

Police officer: A crime was committed at the park yesterday. Were you there?
Me: At the park? No. I never even left the house. [At no time yesterday did I leave the house.]

Mom: Did you speak to your father yesterday?
Me: Nope. I never even texted him. [At no time yesterday did I text him.]

Improve this answer
5
  • Jeffery Carney thank you so much for your explanation. It's very useful for me
    – Bari
    Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 12:44
  • Jeffrey sorry for one more question. I didn't understand what does the word order mean in your example kind of like this: At no time in my entire life have I been to the park. Could you tell me please why does "have" go before the subject? It's not a question, is it?
    – Bari
    Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 13:52
  • @Bari The accepted answer to this question explains it well. The linked article at Wikipedia is also informative.
    – Jeffrey Carney
    Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 15:31
  • thanks a million again)
    – Bari
    Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 17:01
  • Then there is the additional scenario where the "never" is followed by a verb in the present tense (i.e. "He never combs his hair"), which turns it into a form of "does not"
    – Andrew Corrigan
    Commented Jan 18, 2022 at 15:51

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .