Why is "never mastered" used instead of "never master"?

Question

In the anime, the character says:

That woman, she hates me. She wanted to make sure I never mastered genjutsu.

I do not know why never master is not used in place of the bold part. It sounds a bit odd to me.

Another great idea to write it as: She wanted I should never master my skills.

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. — , Jan 31 '17 at 18:32

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 02 '16 at 02:06

That woman, she hates me. She wanted to make sure I never mastered genjutsu.

Here's a version I think you will like better:

That woman, she hates me. She wanted to make sure I would never master genjutsu.

(This is similar to "She wants to make sure I will never master genjutsu," but with everything shifted to the past.)

The sentence you took from the audio might sound strange to you, as an English learner, because it is the past subjunctive. Here's another example:

I'd rather your boyfriend stopped calling you in the middle of the night.

Could we have either an explanation of the downvote, or a proposal of a better answer, please? — J. Doe, Oct 02 '16 at 19:22

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 02 '16 at 08:09

Both of these are correct, albeit with different meanings:

She wanted to make sure I never mastered genjutsu.

and She wants to make sure I never master genjutsu.

As you can see, "she wanted" is in the past, as is "mastered". "She wants" is current, as is "master".

2 Answers2