Example sentences of "[noun] [vb past] [been] a [adj] [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Over the years her religion had been a great comfort to her . |
| 2 | Roz Hatch had been a real looker in her time , and the family portrait said one thing to Cowley above all else : we stick together . |
| 3 | Bluebeard had been a private joke — an exclamation she had been unable to stifle as they 'd rounded the cliff at the head of the valley and she had got her first glimpse of the imposing turreted Castell Rocamar . |
| 4 | In ‘ The Decline of the English Murder ’ he argued that whereas in the past murder had been a serious business involving strong personal commitments and emotions , it had now become an almost casual affair informed by ‘ the anonymous life of dance-halls and the false values of the American film ’ . |
| 5 | Many , probably the great majority of the population , were convinced by 1939 if not before that the Jews had been a harmful influence in German society , and that it would be better if those still remaining left ( or were forced to leave ) as soon as possible . |
| 6 | Old Eddie Mosse had been a strange man to come out of Paradise Street . |
| 7 | THE OPENING ceremony had been a great success . |
| 8 | To make the most of beneficial planetary influences had been a principal object of Marsilio Ficino ( 1433–99 ) , one of the first scholars to give the practice of magic the semblance of respectability . |
| 9 | Her engagement had been a bitter mistake , but it had at least taught her a lesson in preserving her invulnerability , instead of charging into things with unbridled optimism . |
| 10 | Friday had been a busy day . |
| 11 | Their most obvious effect had been a massive increase in speculation as more capitalists tried to make money by wheeling and dealing rather than by productive investment : hence the huge foreign exchange dealings and the booms in share prices , gold , land , real estate and commodities . |
| 12 | Latterly flying as the flagship of Australian TV comedian Norman Gunston , the aircraft had been a familiar sight at Bankstown and , although grounded for the last ten years , had remained substantially complete . |
| 13 | Kylie had been a 13-year-old slip of a thing when she had last stayed with Dennis and Joan in their home in the village of Cymmer . |
| 14 | The pardon had been a central demand of previous Army mutinies , and the prospect of its being announced was thought to have encouraged the loyalty of the Army in putting down the Dec. 3 carapintadas rebellion . |
| 15 | In retrospect he said that he felt that the review had been a good thing for the department . |
| 16 | One scholar writes that whereas before 1861 " a Russian serf had been a legal nullity " , afterwards he received " entirely new legal entitlements and obligations extending into every basic transaction of everyday life " , with the result that the government had to redesign the empire 's judicial system in order to integrate the peasantry into the community at large . |
| 17 | Buried within the plastic explosive had been a miniature detonator , or minidet , later extracted from within a fragment of vertebra that had been itself buried in the spleen . |
| 18 | Oldfield 's initial deal had been a fair reflection of the market-place at the time . |
| 19 | It was two years since I had stood on this spot on the way from Tan Hill to Hawes ; then the force had been a sluggish trickle after a dry spring , now , two years later almost to the day , it was a respectable torrent . |
| 20 | At Huddersfield , a strong reserve force had been a vital factor in the Championship run , and Chapman soon set about building a similar force at Arsenal . |
| 21 | The burial had been a small affair . |
| 22 | Niall Cooper , the national organiser , said that the lobby had been a tremendous team effort , bringing together a unique alliance of Church leaders , Christian organisations , tenants and people in housing need . |
| 23 | The assassins had never been traced , and the British authorities had said they were Sinn Feiners ; it was a stupid accusation , for MacCurtain had been a staunch Republican himself , so nobody had any doubt that the killers were Black and Tans . |
| 24 | Mr Leach had told the court that Curtis had been a staunch supporter of the anti-smoking campaign and that his father had died from lung cancer . |
| 25 | For years lunch had been a twenty-minute affair . |
| 26 | The old Han squatted at the entrance to the corridor , waiting there patiently , knowing the dream had been a true dream ; one of those he could not afford to ignore . |
| 27 | Wesker 's dream had been a cultural palace for the workers ; in the years ahead , through the Henshaw connection it was to become something else . |
| 28 | The loss of his agents amongst the Ping Tiao had been a serious setback , and the men he had bought from amongst their ranks had proved unsatisfactory in almost every respect . |
| 29 | Early in the year , flooding of the road at the northern end of the village had been a grave problem , but after a great deal of pressure on the authorities , the matter had been successfully resolved . |
| 30 | Their lives had been a circular journey : no less than nine of them had spent their schooldays there . |