1
He never is late.
He is never late.
He has never any good ideas.
He never has any good ideas.
The normal position of adverbs of frequency, such as always, often, never and usually, is before the main verb: ‘I never sleep after lunch.’ ‘He never has any good ideas.’
With the verb be, put the adverb after the verb: ‘He is never late.’ ‘They were always friendly.’
With an auxiliary or modal verb, put the adverb after the first auxiliary or modal: ‘I have never seen her.’ ‘You can never return.’
2
He didn’t never go back home.
He never went back home.
Never already has a negative meaning, so use it with an affirmative verb: ‘He never went back home.’
Do not use not and never together. This creates a double negative.
See NOTHING
See NOBODY
See NOWHERE
3
This is the most beautiful place that I have never visited.
This is the most beautiful place that I have ever visited.
We normally use never with an affirmative present perfect verb to mean ‘at no time’: ‘I have never visited Australia.’
However, use ever after a superlative: ‘This is the most beautiful place that I have ever visited.’ ‘It’s the best film I have ever seen.’
See our grammar lesson on the difference between never and ever.