never should vs should never

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

i’m not sure if there’s a difference that’s why i’m asking the experts. here’s my phrase.

1." I never should’ve allowed you to leave this place when I had the chance."

compared to

2." I should’ve never allowed you to leave this place when I had the chance."

which one is correct?

2

Hi Huxley

I consider both sentences to be incorrect with “when I had the chance” on the end.
(I think I’ve mentioned this before.)

The following sentences would be OK, for example:

I should have [done XXX] when I had the chance.
-OR-
I should have let you [do XXX] when I had the chance.
-OR- (similar in meaning to your sentence)
I should have forbidden you to [do XXX] when I had the chance.

Amy

3

As regards the placement of the word never, both ways are acceptable. (Just make sure you get rid of the end of the sentence!)

4

Hi,

I’m confused! Why, Amy, do you not like the end: when I had the chance?

A

5

Hi Alan

I didn’t say I don’t like the expression “when I had the chance”. I disagree with the usage in combination with the idea of “never allow something to happen” in the original post.

“When I had the chance” means “when I had the chance to [do what is stated in the first part of the sentence]”. Thus the sentence in the original post can be extended to:
“I never should’ve allowed you to leave this place when I had the chance to never allow/never to allow you to leave this place.” I find this to be incredibly awkward at best.

The expression “when I had the chance” also tends to be used with affirmatives. For example, “I should have kept you from leaving when I had the chance.”

Surely you aren’t suggesting that you have no misgivings whatsoever about the usage of “when I had the chance” in the original post?

Amy

6

hi,
“I should have [done XXX] when I had the chance” unequal to " I should’ve never allowed you to leave this place when I had the chance"?:roll: :?:

edwin

7

The problems with these sentences:

are the position of never and the use of when.

I think this order is preferable: either I never should have allowed or I should never have allowed.

The other problem is the juxtaposition of ‘never’ with ‘when’. ‘Never’ is if you like a ‘no’ time - it doesn’t exist. ‘When’ on the other hand is a ‘yes’ time and so does exist. It follows therefore that you can’t refer to a time (using ‘when’) that doesn’t exist.

Alan