Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Negation | 739

---

NEVER, NOWHERE

444

In negative statements not … ever and not … anywhere are normally preferred.

Never

and nowhere are more emphatic alternatives:

I have

n’t ever eaten clams. 

(less emphatic than: I’ve never eaten clams.)

I’d 

never lie to you, you know that.

(emphatic)

Have you seen my keys? I ca

n’t find them anywhere.

(preferred to: … I can find them nowhere.)

There’s 

nowhere to sit, is there?

Never

sometimes occurs in marked mid positions for extra emphasis:

It never was very clear to me why she resigned.

(marked position between subject and lexical verb be)

A: Janet got divorced last month.

B: Really? She never said a word!

A: Well they never did get on together.

(marked position before first auxiliary verb)

Further emphasis for never is provided by ever:

They 

never ever go out, do they?

Û

336a for subject-verb inversion after negative adverbs such as hardly, never,

rarely, scarcely, seldom

NEITHER, NEITHER OF, NEITHER … NOR, NOT … OR/NOR, NOT … NEITHER/NOR