Example sentences of "could [not/n't] [verb] a single [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Robert Sherwood ‘ could not detect a single flaw — not one error of taste or of authenticity ’ and he particularly appreciated the absence of ‘ scenes wherein the doughboys dash over the top carrying the American flag ’ . |
| 2 | At breakfast I completely wrecked my egg while clumsily trying to open it — egg all over , nice and sticky — and could not cut a single soldier without upsetting the plate . |
| 3 | He could not follow a single text of the Gita . |
| 4 | One would assume that they might but Kurt Benirschke and Margaret Sullivan , while at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire , could not find a single egg in the 47 pairs of mule ovaries that they examined . |
| 5 | Wading through the stream of overwhelmingly affectionate obituaries , I could not find a single phrase to support the view that Mr P ever had the slightest interest in the games that people play . |
| 6 | Indeed ‘ the whole piece is something of a dream ’ ( Hugo Young , The Guardian , 21 June 1988 ) , in which ‘ you could n't take a single thing seriously ’ ( according to Pearce ) because ‘ any resemblance between it and the world of 1988 is due to administrative oversight ’ ( Patrick Stoddart , The Sunday Times , 26 June 1988 ) . |
| 7 | But at times this urgency verged on desperation as we were told by Tookey that the film ‘ utterly fails to convince ’ ; by Frank Johnson that ‘ its politics are so plainly antediluvian ’ ; by Pearce that ‘ you could n't take a single thing seriously ’ . |
| 8 | The Chinese dropped OS/2 when IBM could n't guarantee a single binary that the Chinese distributors could all ship . |
| 9 | When the police turned up , they could n't find a single witness — no one wanted to know . |
| 10 | The other women laughed and an older one , a Lady something , she could n't remember a single name , said , ‘ Do n't be naughty , Claudia . |
| 11 | He could n't remember a single record , track or tape played . |