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I have basically two questions with the sentence above.

  1. After searching in google, I'm not sure which is the correct one, because I saw people using both:
    "I never would have", or
    "I would have never"?

  2. I feel that all verbs in the sentence should use the same tense? So which option is correct?
    It's "I would have never thought that I would find a book that "WOULD" have such a huge influence on me?".
    or.
    "I would have never thought that I would find a book that "WILL" have such a huge influence on me" ?

Thank you very much If you can answer me! :)

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There was a long discussion on this very subject in another forum, The Free Dictionary, here
There is no clear answer other than one contributor suggests that "never would have" is AmE whilst "would never have" is BrE They suggest BrE has a rule

When the verb includes the modal- here, 'would' - the negative [never] comes after the modal, and before the verb form it modifies

I am unaware of this rule and consider the two versions to be interchangeable.

As for your second question the first version, would, is just about OK, but I doubt many native speakers would say that, rather something like

"When I found the book I never thought it was going to have have such an influence on me"

The second version, will, is just wrong. It is predicting the influence of the book, which is unknowable.

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  • They are both both. :) I see no basis for saying one is AmE and one BrE. Yes, I, too, think they are interchangeable. No need to get one's knickers in a twist. AmE: No need to get your panties in a bunch. :) +1 My pet peeve is people making comments about AmE and BrE when they are clueless. This is my favorite type of explanation.
    – Lambie
    Commented Aug 18 at 16:32
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    (2) Both alternatives seem odd to me. I would say "I would never have thought that I would find a book that had such a huge influence on me".
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Aug 18 at 17:31
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    @Lambie: I said that about will being effectively a mistake to give Peter a chance to edit his answer - which clearly doesn't make that point, so since I'm back here now, I will downvote. If you're that clear about it being a mistake, how come you haven't downvoted? And if you look at the BrE / AmE usage charts in my earlier comment, surely it's obvious there is a UK/US split - the tiny number of BrE instances of I would have never though...t might be little more than misclassifications, but there's an obvious surge in AmE over just the last 2 decades.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Aug 18 at 23:02
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    @FumbleFingers - I get daily inspiration from your Epistle to the Corinthians Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 19 at 9:15
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    @FumbleFingers - I've come across 'never would' among UK native speakers when talking about a past wilful omission, e.g. he never would look where he was going (and so fell down a hole, got run over, broke his nose on a lamp post, eaten by a crocodile). Tone of voice and emphasis on 'never would'.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 19 at 11:21

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