Which clause does the adverb modify in this sentence?

Question

I have the following sentence: > "The KKK was a secret organization; apart from a few top leaders *the members **never** revealed their membership **and** wore masks in public*." Does the adverb "never" modify only the first clause, or also the second one? "The members" never wore masks in public, or did they?

Answer 1

Well, historically, they Klan did (does) wear masks in public when at a Klan event. It’s the only way to continue to keep the membership secret.

As far as your sentence is concerned, I can see why you find it confusing. It could be interpreted either way if we were speaking.

However, in this instance...The word “never” is only modifying the first verb phrase and not the second. Our clue to know this for sure is the coordinating conjunction “and.” If the writer wanted to continue the sentence in the negative, he would have written “nor.” So it would say “...never revealed their membership NOR wore masks in public.” Since we have the word “and,” the negative connotation is discontinued.