@ACB,
Quote:I can understand how some people might object to "I never heard him come in" in terms of meaning or style, ...
I know that there are some who might do so, but I sure can't understand why, ACB. The more it's discussed, the more I think that folks are spoofin'.
It's a completely unremarkable example of idiomatic English, even for the UK.
Google exact phrase search, UK only, "I never heard"
About 1,760,000 results
Google exact phrase search, UK only, "I never saw"
About 1,480,000 results
Google exact phrase search, UK only, "I never felt"
About 719,000 results
Google exact phrase search, UK only, "I never tasted"
About 27,800 results
Google exact phrase search, UK only, "I never liked"
About 492,000 results