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Word order with "ever"
Thread poster: Holger Laux
Holger Laux
Holger Laux  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:46
Member (2011)
English to German
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Nov 17, 2021

Hi,

As part of a translation project, I have a bit of a problem with the English word order in a sentence.

Please have a look at these two variants:

"I learned more than I could ever have imagined."
"I learned more than I could have ever imagined."

Can you please tell me which one you consider correct?

I found references for both on the Internet, but without clear advice.

Many thanks.
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
The first one Nov 17, 2021

Holger Laux wrote:

Hi,

As part of a translation project, I have a bit of a problem with the English word order in a sentence.

Please have a look at these two variants:

"I learned more than I could ever have imagined."
"I learned more than I could have ever imagined."

Can you please tell me which one you consider correct?

I found references for both on the Internet, but without clear advice.

Many thanks.


"I learned more than I could ever have imagined" although there is an even better option:

"I learned more than I ever could have imagined."

[Edited at 2021-11-17 14:01 GMT]

Josephine Cassar
Christiane Bowien-Böll
Roger Melo
Tina Vonhof (X)
Jan Truper
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Take your pick Nov 17, 2021

All three suggestions so far are OK.

"I learned more than I could ever have imagined" is the only one I would ever say.

"I learned more than I ever could have imagined" is something only ever posh people would say, or only posh people ever would say.

What a fab language we have.

Philip Lees
 
Ali Sharifi
Ali Sharifi  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 07:46
English to Persian (Farsi)
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The first. Nov 17, 2021

"I learned more than I could ever have imagined."
This one is correct.
The second one is a French way of saying the same thing.
 
Holger Laux
Holger Laux  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:46
Member (2011)
English to German
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks! Nov 17, 2021

Thank you so much for your interesting comments.
 
MollyRose
MollyRose  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:46
English to Spanish
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to avoid splitting the verbs Nov 17, 2021

"I learned more than I ever could have imagined."

This seems natural to me.

[Edited at 2021-11-18 21:49 GMT]

Becca Resnik
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 12:46
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Posh Nov 18, 2021

Only people who are not posh ever use the word "posh".

AnnaSCHTR
 
MollyRose
MollyRose  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:46
English to Spanish
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only because Nov 18, 2021



[Edited at 2021-11-18 21:50 GMT]
 
Richard Purdom
Richard Purdom  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 12:46
Dutch to English
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may ways to skin the proverbial Nov 18, 2021

I've learned more from these comments than I'd ever imagined possible.

Tom in London
P.L.F. Persio
 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
On posh speak, Roberta Flack and getting over myself Nov 19, 2021

I ain’t posh, Tom, no, and happily so. But I think that word order, in the UK at least, says someone who is educated and careful about how they speak, and probably over a certain age. Maybe someone who avoids splitting infinitives and using “whose” for inanimate objects or “they” as a singular.

I must confess, I can never hear the otherwise beautiful Roberta Flack song “The first time ever I saw your face” without thinking it should be “The first time I ever saw your... See more
I ain’t posh, Tom, no, and happily so. But I think that word order, in the UK at least, says someone who is educated and careful about how they speak, and probably over a certain age. Maybe someone who avoids splitting infinitives and using “whose” for inanimate objects or “they” as a singular.

I must confess, I can never hear the otherwise beautiful Roberta Flack song “The first time ever I saw your face” without thinking it should be “The first time I ever saw your face”.

And then, with my Plain English hat on, that it should really be “The first time I saw your face”.

A good example of why language should be something you feel rather than something you analyse! ▲ Collapse


P.L.F. Persio
Kevin Fulton
expressisverbis
 


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Word order with "ever"






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