ever

Our Chief Priest always said



Joe(happy to help)Nation

It is correct, although it would more likely be said by a British speaker of English than an American. Joe's answer is how an American would, almost invariably, say it.

Hmmm. My daddy always said not to speak with your mouth full.

Joe(His folks came from England, but that was in 1609.)Nation

You'll got to hell for lyin', too, boy . . .

Our Chief Priest ever said ... is different from Our Chief Priest always said. The former states that he said before, not always said, doesn't it?

Our Chief Priest ever said that we must not avoid being greedy, angry and stupid.

There are two mistakes in the above sentence.
First, the word 'ever' doesn't make sense in that usage.
Second, "we must not avoid being greedy, angry and stupid." means "we must be greedy, angry and stupid." which I do not believe was what the Chief Priest would want to say.


Our Chief Priest always told us to avoid being greedy, angry and stupid.

Our Chief Priest said we should never be greedy, angry or stupid.

Our Chief Priest said we should avoid being greedy, angry or stupid.


The first and third sentences are less imperative than the second. They are more like suggestions, the second is a command.


Joe(Always be careful with the word 'not')Nation

I missed the extraneous "not" in that sentence, which is a problem you'll have, that literate people tend to supply the deficiencies of what they read.

However, since Joe seems bent on ignoring it--"ever said" is not incorrect, it is, however, not typical of the American language, and might even have become somewhat archaic in British usage. That being said, "ever said" and "always said" mean exactly the same thing.

Yes, Setanta is correct. "ever said" would be a poetic way of phrasing the sentence, not in general usage.


Joe(set is a poet after all.)Nation

JOE(ever the editor) NATION

However, I would aver to ever.

I never encountered "ever" used in that way. Guess I'm leading a sheltered life.

Well, you are a cheetah so who would expect that from you because you should either be in the wild or at a zoo (just kidding Roberta). That was just my first thought when I read your sentence and looked at you avatar picture. I agree with you. I have never used "ever" in a sentence like that and have never heard it spoken that way from anyone I know. btw I do like your avatar (the cheetah is a gorgeous animal & the panther is one of my favorites)

Our Chief Priest ever said that we must avoid being greedy, angry and stupid.

My apologies. The word 'not' shouldn't have been there. It's been removed.

Could I rephrase the sentence as follows:

Our Chief Priest once said that we must avoid being greedy, angry and stupid. (He did mention this once in the past.)

Many thanks.