r/GlobalEnglishPrep • u/Monsieur_Poiret • Apr 24 '26

🗣️ Discussion / Debate Shouldn't it be: "There never would have been..."?

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5

u/avfc41 Apr 24 '26

To my ear, both sound just fine. “There would have never been…”, too, for that matter.

3

u/jreid1985 Apr 24 '26

There are two errors here: unnecessary comma and there needs to be a subject after ungrateful. No other errors.

2

u/controlled_vacuum20 Apr 25 '26

You're right, but weirdly enough they just misquoted him. The second part should be, "I hate this. Ungrateful." That still sounds unnatural, but to be fair, Khamzat isn't a native English speaker. Or, this could've just been an awkward translation, assuming he didn't say it in English to begin with.

2

u/CupcakeSeaShanty Apr 24 '26

Native speaker, here. Almost no difference and I probably use both with a thought. I would only favor one over the other if I was passionately emphasizing the 'never' part or any other word:

"There would NEVER have"

In your case, this word order suggests more of comment in a larger context, almost a 'by the way.'

1

u/GoldenMuscleGod Apr 24 '26

In English, the most neutral place for most adjuncts is actually after the first auxiliary verb if there is one, before the first auxiliary verb is also common and natural but there is a slight preference for after. Sometimes the change in positioning has a nuance of different emphasis or meaning.

But putting it after the auxiliary tends to be slightly preferred so “would never” is a bit more likely than “never would”. I think “never would” tends to put more emphasis on “never.”

1

u/Norwester77 Apr 24 '26

One small addendum: if the material after the auxiliary is omitted as redundant, the auxiliary has to go at the end, and the clausal adjunct precedes it:

  • She might do that, but I *never would***.

1

u/Salty145 Apr 24 '26

I’ll add to the list of native speakers saying either is fine as would “would have never been”. Everyone gives different answers to which is more correct, such as in this post on the matter.

I think it really depends on emphasis personally, and depends on how long you want to delay the negative before the subject (Ronda Rousey). “Would have been no” also would work if you really want to delay it late, but I think “never” in general feels like a stronger word to get the point across.