always, ever, forever

[jiang]

Dear teachers,
Please read the sentence:
It is, on a higher level, the same challenge health care workers_________ faced.

a. always b. ever c. forever
The key is 'a'. No problem. My question is: what's wrong with 'b', which means 'at any time' and 'c', which means 'for all time'.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[Anglika]

Dear teachers,
Please read the sentence:
It is, on a higher level, the same challenge health care workers_________ faced.

a. always b. ever c. forever
The key is 'a'. No problem. My question is: what's wrong with 'b', which means 'at any time' and 'c', which means 'for all time'.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

It is, on a higher level, the same challenge health care workers ever faced.

This use of ever would indicate "always" in this context. It sounds a bit archaic.

• adverb 1 at any time. 2 used in comparisons for emphasis: better than ever. 3 always. 4 increasingly; constantly: ever larger sums. 5 used for emphasis in questions expressing astonishment: why ever did you do it?

It is, on a higher level, the same challenge health care workers forever faced.

Not really grammatical. You could use "forever" if the sentence was rephrased "...workers have faced for ever" [[for a very long time]] or "...workers forever face" [[continually]].

• adverb 1 (also for ever) for all future time. 2 a very long time. 3 continually

[jiang]

Dear Anglika,
Thank you very much for your explanation. I understand your explanation. I have just read Cas's reply ( the same sentence but different question). Cas pointed out that 'faced' in the sentence is a typo. It should be 'face'. In this case, according to your explanation both 'always' and 'forever' are correct. Is that so?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

It is, on a higher level, the same challenge health care workers ever faced.

This use of ever would indicate "always" in this context. It sounds a bit archaic.

• adverb 1 at any time. 2 used in comparisons for emphasis: better than ever. 3 always. 4 increasingly; constantly: ever larger sums. 5 used for emphasis in questions expressing astonishment: why ever did you do it?

It is, on a higher level, the same challenge health care workers forever faced.

Not really grammatical. You could use "forever" if the sentence was rephrased "...workers have faced for ever" [[for a very long time]] or "...workers forever face" [[continually]].

• adverb 1 (also for ever) for all future time. 2 a very long time. 3 continually

[Casiopea]

Dear teachers,
Please read the sentence:
It is, on a higher level, the same challenge health care workers_________ faced.

a. always b. ever c. forever

______faced could be ______face or have______ faced.

[jiang]

______faced could be ______face or have______ faced.

[Casiopea]

Frequency adverbs.

[1] Present perfect: they have always faced
<ever doesn't fit; forever is non-past (i.e., present and future), whereas the present perfect deals in both the past and the present>

[2] Present simple: they always face
<ever doesn't fit; forever could fit>

If [2], present simple face, were the correct verb form, then we'd have two possible answers, always and forever. According to your book, though, always is the key. So, the correct verb form should be have___ faced, with have having been omitted. A typo.

All the best.

[jiang]

Dear Cas,
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I understand it.

Jiang

Frequency adverbs.

[1] Present perfect: they have always faced
<ever doesn't fit; forever is non-past (i.e., present and future), whereas the present perfect deals in both the past and the present>

[2] Present simple: they always face
<ever doesn't fit; forever could fit>

If [2], present simple face, were the correct verb form, then we'd have two possible answers, always and forever. According to your book, though, always is the key. So, the correct verb form should be have___ faced, with have having been omitted. A typo.

All the best.