Many writers tend to believe that nevermind and never mind are interchangeable words. This is not true, and we have provided suggestions to help you determine which of these words is correct for your writing.
What's the Meaning of Nevermind?
Nevermind spelled as one word is only correct when it is used as part of the conversational saying “pay something no nevermind.” This is an older use that is not widely recognized in English today.
What's the Meaning of Never Mind?
Never mind spelled as two words is used to tell someone to disregard a manner. This is primarily used by a speaker that has said something unimportant and does not want to repeat themselves or explain what they had said previously. It can also be used to show a change in a speaker’s mindset.
We have taken a look at some examples of ways that you can use never mind in your writing below.
Examples of Using Never Mind:
- Never mind, I shouldn’t have a cupcake. I need to stick to my diet.
- Never mind what I just said. It is irrelevant.
Never mind can also be used as another way to say “not to mention” or “certainly not,” like we have used it in our sentence below.
Example of Alternate Usage of Never Mind:
- I can’t imagine going out on New Year’s Eve, never mind to Times Square.
How to Check If You Have Used Never Mind Correctly
When you are reviewing your writing for the proper use of never mind, you should be able to substitute other two-word phrases such as “don’t bother” or “don’t worry.” Let’s test our sentences above with this method.
Example of Substituting "Don't Bother" for Never Mind:
- Never mind, I shouldn’t have a cupcake. I need to stick to my diet.
- Don’t bother, I shouldn’t have a cupcake. I need to stick to my diet.
We can see here that our sentence still makes sense when we substitute don’t bother in place of never mind.
Example of Substituting "Don't Worry" for Never Mind:
- Never mind what I just said. It is irrelevant.
- Don’t worry about what I just said. It is irrelevant.
In this case, we needed to add the phrase “don’t worry about” to our sentence. We can see that once we made this substitution, our new sentence still made sense, so we have used never mind correctly.
To test for the proper use of never mind when you are using it as another way to say “not to mention” or “certainly not,” you can simply substitute these additional phrases into your sentence to check for correction.
Example of Substituting "Not to Mention" for Never Mind:
- I can’t imagine going out on New Year’s Eve, never mind to Times Square.
- I can’t imagine going out on New Year’s Eve, not to mention to Times Square.
We can see in this example that our sentence still makes sense when we substitute the phrase “not to mention” in place of never mind.
Final Thoughts on Using Nevermind and Never Mind
When you are using never mind, it is important to remember that nevermind spelled as one word is very rarely the word that you want and that the proper spelling of the word is never mind written out as two words. Keep in mind that you can use the tips that we have demonstrated above to ensure that you are spelling never mind correctly.
If you are still unsure of yourself, let eContent Pro help you.
Based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA, eContent Pro offers high-quality end-to-end editorial and publishing services, ensuring seamless workflows through the eContent Pro Business Enterprise Management System (BEMS), fast turnaround times, competitive pricing, and exceptional customer service. Since 1994, we have supported commercial publishers, university/library presses, organizations, and societies by streamlining their publishing workflow with innovative publishing solutions.
