never to let me have a sense of

[jiang]

Dear teachers,


She went out of her way never to let me have a sense of color-superiority.
Is “never” here used incorrectly? Or is "to" used incorrectly?

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

Jiang

 

[5jj]

No. No.

 

[birdeen's call]

Why do you think they're used incorrectly, jiang?

 

[jiang]

Hi birdeen's call,

She went out of her way never to let me have a sense of color-superiority.

I thought it should be: She went out of her way and did not let me have a sense of color-superiority.

Jiang

Why do you think they're used incorrectly, jiang?

 

[birdeen's call]

Hi birdeen's call,

She went out of her way never to let me have a sense of color-superiority.

I thought it should be: She went out of her way and did not let me have a sense of color-superiority.

Jiang

This wouldn't be incorrect, jiang, but it wouldn't be very natural either. I think the problem might be that you don't understand the idiom "go out of one's way to do something". You can find an explanation with examples http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/go+out+of+way.

 

[Seriah]

I think that 'she went out of her way to never let me...' sounds more natural than 'she went out of her way never to let me'. It makes sense either way though.

 

[birdeen's call]

I've just noticed that I failed to provide a link. Sorry. Here it is: go out of way - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

 

[5jj]

I think it's very much personal preference. I'm for '...never to let me ...'.

 

[jiang]

Hi birdeen's call,

I learned the phrase "to out of one's way to do something" long ago. The problem is with "never" here. I know we can say "to out of one's way (not) to do something" but I don't know "never" can replace "not".

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

Jiang

This wouldn't be incorrect, jiang, but it wouldn't be very natural either. I think the problem might be that you don't understand the idiom "go out of one's way to do something". You can find an explanation with examples .

 

[Tdol]

I think it's very much personal preference. I'm for '...never to let me ...'.

I'm a never-to-letter too.

 

[jiang]

:-D:-D

Dear Tdol,

Could you please tell me the function of the part "never to let me....."? Is it adverbial of purpose?

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

Jiang

I'm a never-to-letter too.