[General] He/She has never got married

[englishhobby]

If a person hasn't ever been married, we can just say so "He/She has never been married". That's quite clear. But sometimes people (not very kind ones) emphasise the fact that the type of man/woman they are talking about will never get married because, for example, they are confirmed bachelors or "old maids". In this case it's not enough just to say "He/She has never been married".

Can one say "Sheila (has) never got married (she is "alive", at present, but she hasn't been married and obviously will never get married)?.
If you no what I mean...

I need this because I'm grading my students' works and one of them wrote a story about a man who had a holiday romance. The story is in the past, but in the first and last paragraphs the student uses the present tense. At the end of the story the student wrote:

<...> But he never got married anymore. Since last week Tom’s been on holiday. At his leisure he watches TV and eats pop-corn, his only recreations are drinking beer and watching football, sometimes he just idles. And he suspects he’s getting bored.

I don't know if the use of the past simple is correct in the sentece in bold.

 

[Raymott]

<...> But he never got married anymore. Since last week Tom’s been on holiday.

"But he never married" is best. "But he never got married" is acceptable grammatically.
'Anymore' is inappropriate, wrong.

 

[Matthew Wai]

But he never got married anymore.

It sounds to me as if 'But he never got married again'. Am I right or wrong?

Not a teacher.

 

[Tdol]

It sounds to me as if 'But he never got married again'. Am I right or wrong?

You'd be right if the person had married a few times before then stopped. It would sound odd to me if he had only been married once.

 

[Tdol]

confirmed bachelors

This phrase is used sometimes in BrE to suggest that someone is gay, so not all long-term bachelors are confirmed bachelors.

 

[Raymott]

This phrase is used sometimes in BrE to suggest that someone is gay, so not all long-term bachelors are confirmed bachelors.

When I was younger, I thought a confirmed bachelor was a lady's man who would never commit. But maybe it did mean that in the past. I'm still uncertain when I see the phrase.

PS: With gay marriage becoming popular, not all gay men can be called 'confirmed bachelors' anyway.

 

[Matthew Wai]

Is 'lifelong bachelors' understandable?

 

[Raymott]

Only in retrospect. "Here lies Bill, a lifelong bachelor."

 

[englishhobby]

"But he never married" is best. "But he never got married" is acceptable grammatically.
'Anymore' is inappropriate, wrong.

And if he had been married once, and never married again, can I put it "He never married again"?

 

[Barb_D]

And if he had been married once, and never married again, can I put it "He never married again"?

Yes

 

[Tdol]

PS: With gay marriage becoming popular, not all gay men can be called 'confirmed bachelors' anyway.

It was dated before gay marriage. It's more from the EM Forster when writing and EF Benson times, but has survived as a sort of anachronism. It may die out now.

 

[emsr2d2]

I haven't heard it used, except in jest, for several years.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I hear it sometimes in New York, particularly at cocktail parties or black-tie dinners.

 

[emsr2d2]

Oooooh, you move in posher circles than I.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It's not all it is cracked up to be. ;-)