Present Perfect with Ever and Never

These words act as frequency markers for the Present Perfect. Ever usually means "at any time in your life." It is the ultimate curiosity word. You use it to dig for information. Never is the opposite. It means "at no time in your life." It is a strong, clear way to say "zero times." Imagine a timeline of your life from birth until right now. Ever searches that whole line for a specific event. Never tells us that the event is nowhere to be found on that line. It is like a grammar traffic light. Ever is the green light for questions. Never is the red light for things that haven't happened. Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes, so don't worry!

1. 1Building these sentences is like following a simple recipe. You only need a few ingredients.
2. 2Start with your subject (like I, You, She).
3. 3Add the helping verb have or has. Remember, has is for he, she, and it.
4. 4Put ever or never right after the helping verb.
5. 5Add the past participle of your main verb (like eaten, seen, or been).
6. 6Finish with the rest of your information.
7. 7For questions, the order changes slightly. You start with Have or Has. Then comes the subject. Then comes ever. Finally, the past participle. For example: Have + you + ever + tried + sushi? It is a neat little sandwich of words.

Use ever when you are asking questions about experiences. It is perfect for getting to know someone. Imagine you are on a first date. You might ask, "Have you ever traveled to Asia?" It sounds much more natural than just asking "Did you go to Asia?" because you don't care about the date. You just care about the experience.

Use never to talk about things you haven't done. It is great for sharing fun facts. "I have never broken a bone!" (Knock on wood!). It is also useful in professional settings. In a job interview, you might say, "I have never missed a deadline." This shows your reliability over your entire career. It covers your whole history in one short sentence.

Don't use these words when you have a specific time in mind. If you say "yesterday" or "in 2010," you must use the Past Simple. You cannot say, "I have never seen him yesterday." That sounds like a glitch in the matrix!

Also, avoid using ever in standard positive statements. You wouldn't say, "I have ever eaten pizza." That sounds very strange to a native speaker. In that case, just say, "I have eaten pizza before." Keep ever for your questions and your superlatives (like "the best movie I have ever seen").

The biggest trap is the double negative. This is where many learners trip up. In English, never is already negative. You do not need not.

• ✗ I haven't never been there.
• ✓ I have never been there.

If you use both, you are actually saying you *have* been there! It’s like a math equation where two negatives make a positive.

Another mistake is the word order. Some people put ever at the end of the sentence.

• ✗ Have you been to Paris ever?
• ✓ Have you ever been to Paris?

Keep ever tucked safely between the subject and the main verb.

People often confuse this with the Past Simple. The Past Simple is for finished actions at a specific time. "I went to London in 2015." The Present Perfect with ever/never is for an indefinite time. "I have never been to London."

Think of the Past Simple as a photo of a specific moment. Think of the Present Perfect as a whole photo album. One is a single point. The other is a collection. If you are ordering food and the waiter asks if you've tried the specials, he uses ever. He doesn't care if you tried them last week or five years ago. He just wants to know if you know the taste.