Is saying "Never did I…" the same as saying "Never have I…" in the following examples?
Also, I'm not sure if I should add commas.
Example 1: I never thought I would win a game against you.
1) Never in my life did I ever think that I would win a game against you
2) Never in my life had I ever thought that I would win a game against you
Example 2: I had never thought that perfection existed until I saw her artwork.
3) Never in my life had I ever thought that perfection existed until I saw her artwork
4) Never in my life did I ever think that perfection existed until I saw her
artwork.
Are all of them grammatically correct?
Any help will be appreciated.
Best Answer
There is one issue with all of the sentences: after the initial "never", following with "ever" is redundant, unnecessary, and is at least bad style if not an error. It's like having "never ever" in a simple sentence.
Removing the "ever", in example 1 we are left with two possible sentences The first is:
... which is just fine as it is.
The second is somewhat complex. The "had" makes past perfect tense, which suggests that there is another "thing" following, but still in the past, that is related to the statement; but that "thing" is missing. It would make sense if something follows, for example
But if you intend to contrast this "never" with the present, you should use present perfect:
Example 2 makes good use of past perfect; "never had I thought...", and then "until I saw", still in the past.