Meaning & use
never giving up
Last updated
“never giving up” is a form of “never give up”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
phraseidiom
The act of continuing to try and refusing to stop or admit defeat.
Grammar: Used as a noun-like phrase or after verbs such as keep: 'Keep never giving up.' It is not a complete sentence by itself.
Patterns
- keep never giving up
- never giving up on something
- never giving up is ...
Never giving up is the reason she finally passed the exam.
He kept never giving up, even when everyone else quit.
Their never giving up on the project saved the whole team.
Common combinations
- keep never giving up
- The teacher told us to keep never giving up.
- never giving up on a goal
- Never giving up on a goal takes real courage.
- a habit of never giving up
- She has a habit of never giving up.
Synonyms and how they differ
- perseverance
- A noun meaning steady continued effort; it is more formal and does not use 'never'.
- persistence
- Similar to perseverance, but it can also suggest continuing in a stubborn way.
Opposites
Word family
- never give up phrase
- The base form of the phrase.
Commonly confused: never giving up or never give up?
never giving up vs never give up
This is the base form; use 'never giving up' after 'keep' or as a subject, not as a command.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses 'never giving up' correctly.
Choose one answer.
Option 0 uses the -ing phrase as a subject, which is correct. Options 2 and 3 are ungrammatical because they need a helping verb (e.g., 'She is never giving up').
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “never giving up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.