Collins Cobuild English Grammar (108 page)

never

5.64
    
Never
is used to say that something was not or will not ever be the case.

When it is used with a verb phrase that contains an auxiliary verb,
never
is put after the first verb in the verb phrase and in front of the main verb.

I
would never trust
my judgement again.
…a type of glass that is rare and
is never used
.
The number of people who died
will never be known
.
Fifty years ago, men
were never expected to wash
the dishes or help with the children.
I
had never been
to this big town before.
I’
ve never done
so much work in all my life.

However, you can put
never
in front of the first word in the verb phrase in order to emphasize the negative aspect of a statement.

I
never would have guessed
if he hadn’t told me.
There was no such person–there
never had been
.

with simple forms of
be

5.65
    If the main verb is the present simple or past simple of
be
,
never
usually comes after the verb.

She
was never
too proud to learn.
I’
m never
very keen on keeping a car for more than a year.
There
were never
any people in the house.

However, you can put
never
in front of a simple form of
be
for emphasis.

There
never was
enough hot water at home.
It
never was
very clear.
There
never is
any great change.

with simple forms of other verbs

5.66
    If the main verb is the present simple or past simple of any verb except
be
,
never
comes in front of the verb.

I
never want
to see you in my classes again.
She
never goes
abroad.
He
never went
to university.
He
never did
any homework.

emphasis

5.67
    You can make a negative statement more emphatic by using
never
followed by
do
,
does
, or
did
in front of the base form of the verb. For example, instead of saying
I never met him
, you can say
I never did meet him
.

They
never did get
their money back.
She
never did find
her real mother.
Some people
never do adjust
to life here.

never
in imperatives

5.68
    
Never
can be used at the beginning of imperative structures.

Never
change a wheel near a drain.
Never
dry clothes in front of an open fire.

Imperative structures are explained in paragraph
5.4
and in paragraphs
5.35
to
5.39
.

no

5.69
    
No
is an indefinite determiner that is used in front of singular and plural nouns to say that something does not exist or is not available.

There was
no money
for an operation.
We had
no parents
, nobody to look after us.
He has
no ambition
.
I could see
no tracks
.

Indefinite determiners are explained in paragraphs
1.223
to
1.250
.

5.70
    In spoken English,
-n’t
is often used with
any
instead of
no
. For example, instead of saying
I had no money
, you can say
I didn’t have any money
.

They had
n’t
meant
any
harm to her.
I ca
n’t
see
any
hope in it.

none

5.71
    The pronoun
none
is used to say that there is not a single thing or person, or not even a small amount of a particular thing.

I waited for comments but
none
came.
The entire area is covered with shallow lakes,
none
more than a few yards in depth.
We have been seeing difficulties where
none
exist.

For another use of
none
see paragraph
1.155
.

none of

5.72
    
None of
is a quantity expression.

None of
the townspeople had ever seen such weather.
None of
this has happened without our consent.

For an explanation of
none of
see paragraphs
2.179
and
2.185
.

words beginning with
no-

5.73
    There are four words beginning with
no-
that are used in negative statements.
Nothing
,
no one
, and
nobody
are
indefinite pronouns
.
Nowhere
is an
indefinite place adverb
.

There’s
nothing
you can do.
Nobody
in her house knows any English.
There’s almost
nowhere
left to go.

Indefinite pronouns are explained in paragraphs
1.128
to
1.141
.

Indefinite place adverbs are explained in paragraphs
6.61
and
6.71
.

followed by
but

5.74
    
Nothing
,
no one
,
nobody
, and
nowhere
can be followed by
but
to mean
only
. For example,
There was nothing but cheese
means that there was only cheese.

I look back on this period with
nothing but
pleasure.
He heard
no one but
his uncles.

Indefinite pronouns and adverbs that begin with
any
can be used in similar structures. However, in these structures
but
means
except
, rather than
only
.

I could never speak about
anything but
business to Ivan.
He never spoke to
anyone but
his wife.

neither
and
nor

5.75
    
Neither
and
nor
are used together to say that two alternatives are not possible, likely, or true.
Neither
goes in front of the first alternative and
nor
goes in front of the second one.

Neither
Margaret
nor
John was there.
They had
neither
food
nor
money until the end of the week.

neither
in replies

5.76
    
Neither
can be used on its own as a reply, to refer to two alternatives that have already been mentioned.

‘Does that mean yes or no?’ – ‘
Neither
’.

5.77
    If a clause contains a negative word, particularly
not
, you can use
neither
or
nor
to negate a second clause. In the second clause, you put
neither
or
nor
first, followed by the verb, followed by the subject.

This isn’t a dazzling achievement, but
neither is it
a negligible one.
These people are not insane,
nor are they
fools.

If there is an auxiliary, it is placed in front of the subject in the second clause.

The organization had broken no rules, but
neither had it acted
responsibly.
I don’t feel any shame.
Neither do I think
I should.

neither
with singular nouns

5.78
    
Neither
can be used on its own in front of a singular noun referring to each of two things when you are making a negative statement about both of them. For example,
Neither partner benefited from the agreement
means that there were two partners and the negative statement applies to both of them.

Neither report
mentioned the Americans.
Neither film
was particularly good.
Neither sex
has a monopoly on thought or emotion.
Neither parent
is the good one or the bad one.

Note that in this structure
neither
is used with a singular verb.

neither of

5.79
    When
neither
is followed by
of
, it makes a set of two things negative.
Neither of
is followed by a plural noun phrase.

Neither of us
was having any luck.
Neither of the boys
screamed.
Neither of them
was making any sound.

Neither of
is normally used with a singular verb.

Neither of these extremes is
desirable.
Neither of these opinions proves
anything.

However, it is also possible to use a plural verb.