[Ads-l] "Ever -ING . . . " instead of "Ever BASE . . .?"

Amy West medievalist at W-STS.COM
Wed Apr 15 15:10:16 UTC 2026


Wondering if this is a variation . . .

I spotted this construction in today's Pearls Before Swine:

https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/04/15

"Ever driving behind a car that doesn't go when the light turns green?"

I would have used "Ever drive . . . " instead of the "Ever driving . . . 
". I don't see this as a phenomenon in the Yale Grammatical Diversity 
Project. Is this a variation? It seems to be derived from an ellision of 
"Are you . . . " ("Are you ever driving behind a car . . .") as opposed 
to an ellision of "Do you . . . " for the "Ever drive . . .?" construction.

---Amy West

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