"Lui non usò mai quella parola."

Translation: He never used that word.

[nerevarine1138]

Since "never" doing something happens over a more indefinite period of time, wouldn't "Non usava mai..." work better in this context?

[GuidoHaene]

Came here to say the same, could someone explain?

[kyrrit]

Ditto, seems like imperfect.... does the negation matter here?

[LingoLaura]

Era una parolaccia?

[NickyMarsicano]

Grazie per la nuova parola - non la conosceva

[SamanthaCruz4]

I added "has" there and it marked me wrong.

[nerevarine1138]

That's because you can only get that meaning with the present perfect ("non ha mai usato"). This tense only translates to the simple past tense, but the present perfect can either translate to the English present perfect or the simple past tense.

[SamanthaCruz4]

Oh, ok lol Thanks

[AlexDaniel544497]

The F word?

[Dean810723]

Okay Mason Rudolph

[Wille809078]

Well i would also use the present perfect with never

[nerevarine1138]

It makes sense either way:

"Did you hear the mayor's speech? He said the town was bankrupt!" "He never said that."

"Mr. Mayor, is the town going bankrupt?" "I have never said that, and you will never hear me say it."

[NickyMarsicano]

What word would that be?