Learn English – “never heard it before” vs “never before heard it”

word-order

Usually, people say something like the sentence below.

(1) I have never heard such a strange phrase before.

Some of my non-native English speaking friends think it's okay to move "before" to the place between "never" and "heard" as shown in (2) below.

(2) I have never before heard such a strange phrase.

Is (2) wrong?

Best Answer

There is no rule against the word order in your second sentence. You of course can say

I have never before heard such a strange phrase.

We have never before seen aliens from another planet.

This word order makes the sentence sound a little old-fashioned and formal in register.