How to say "never" in Japanese

• ついにJLPT N3approx.Common
  adverbCovers 'never (happened)': something awaited or expected that failed to occur. ついに is at bottom 'in the end', so the nuance is long expectation coming to nothing — the guest who never came.
• いつもJLPT N5approx.Common
  adverbGlossed 'never', but at heart いつも means 'always'; its 'never' use is marginal, so this is seldom the word you want — reach for it when you mean 'always'.
  私は日曜日にちようびにはいつも家いえにいない。↗

  I'm never at home on Sundays.
• 誓ってちかってCommon
  adverbCovers the emphatic 'by no means; never': used with a negative, it frames a denial as an oath — the speaker swears that something is not, or was not, the case.

Use 「ついに」 for something awaited that in the end never happened, 「誓って」 with a negative for an emphatic, oath-like denial, and treat 「いつも」 with caution, since it is really the word for 'always'.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• ついぞnever
• 未だかつていまだかつてnever (before)
• つゆいささかもnever
• ネバーnever
• 間違ってもまちがってもno matter what
• ついにin the end
• いつもnever
• 誓ってちかって(with neg) by no means
• 万々まんまんnever
• 終ついnever
• 無理むりno way
• こそnot at all