Example sentences of "[pron] not for [art] [adj] [noun sg] " in BNC.
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| 1 | He could , Dalgliesh thought , have been judged an outstandingly handsome man were it not for a certain incongruity of feature , perhaps the contrast between the fineness of the skin stretched over the flat cheekbones and the strong jutting jaw and uncompromising mouth . |
| 2 | He admired gnarled oak , beeches and silver birch , but occasionally he complained bitterly about bad planting , as when looking towards Langdale from near Tilberthwaite : ‘ Langdale on the right would finish the whole into a pleasant landscape , were it not for a frightful plantation of firs blotting out the pass on Wrynose . ’ |
| 3 | Were it not for a severe epidemic of puerperal fever ( ‘ childbed fever ’ ) in Aberdeen , which lasted from December 1789 to March 1792 , Gordon might well have been forgotten . |
| 4 | The top is not visible from the road , and were it not for a sizeable cairn you could miss it altogether . |
| 5 | Eleanor Bell ( d.1827 ) has a scarlet velvet upholstered elm case which , with its cherub grip-plates , might have been equally at home in the 1720s were it not for the idiosyncratic decoration of the lid . |
| 6 | The contest , owing to the tiger 's height , colouring , and ability to move without making a sound , would be very unequal were it not for the wind-factor operating in favour of the sportsman . |
| 7 | I do not for my part find the objections in principle to be strong and I would certainly be prepared to agree the rule should no longer be adhered to were it not for the practical consideration to which I have referred and which my noble and learned friend agrees to be of real substance . |
| 8 | Not surprisingly , in their rush they were disinclined to hump mounds of electrical equipment into the west with them , and would now find themselves without so much as a guitar string to their name , were it not for the warm-hearted generosity of the British thrash metal community . |
| 9 | Certainly in Light ( 1857 ) [ 1843 – 60 ] All ER Rep 934 , the accused was guilty of an assault when he said : " Were it not for the bloody policeman outside , I would split your head open . " |
| 10 | Few farm workers leave the land because they dislike the job itself ; on the contrary many would return were it not for the poor pay and prospects . |
| 11 | It would be easy to put this 1814 statement down to the cowardice of a middle-aged civil servant ashamed of his youthful indiscretion , were it not for the amazing passage which follows . |
| 12 | The tendency for carnivores to get progressively ‘ better ’ would soon run out of steam , as do human arms races ( for reasons of economic cost which we shall come to ) , were it not for the parallel tendency in the prey . |
| 13 | Again , the tendency towards progressive improvement in gazelles would slow to a halt , were it not for the parallel tendency to improvement shown by their predators . |
| 14 | This would not matter , were it not for the apparent demise of the Liberals , who used to hold the balance in the Bundestag and whose defection brought down Helmut Schmidt 's government in October . |
| 15 | You might fear an element of sanctimoniousness here , were it not for the certain knowledge that McIlvanney is probably even harder on himself . |
| 16 | Mr Museveni would have been unable to stay in power were it not for the economic success unfolding around him . |
| 17 | Were it not for the narrow strip of tar , I would have been stuck hopelessly — several times I was bogged down when the wind blew me off the road . |
| 18 | Indeed the most dramatically powerful scene could be painfully sentimental were it not for the fierce intensity with which Tom Fleming expresses his feelings . |
| 19 | Also the proportion of rods to spinelets varies to the exclusion of spinelets which would lead to confusion with O. densa were it not for the different number of arm spines , the proximal spines forming a fan and the raised oral frame . |
| 20 | Perhaps these people feel , as do members of the local communities , that the coastline would not be in such urgent need of ‘ protection ’ were it not for the imminent threat of creation of a housing development , larger than the existing village of Dirleton , adjacent to it . |
| 21 | Lewis might almost have been amused by the exchanges thus far , were it not for the heavy burden of the news he was bearing . |
| 22 | Some forms ( Turrilites ) adopted the helical spire , and were it not for the obligatory suture lines it might be possible to mistake these species for large gastropods . |
| 23 | Encased in pile and nylon , hoods drawn tight , it would be easy to forget the world in a welter of sensations , were it not for the running commentary that Tove keeps up . |
| 24 | Many of these interactions could be made automatic were it not for the basic need for a human presence for the social/ economic reasons mentioned above and because the human operator has to act as the ultimate back-stop when things go badly wrong . |
| 25 | It is quite possible that a number of other political changes would have got under way more recently were it not for the direct intervention of Pope John Paul II and the Vatican . |
| 26 | Were it not for the extreme aggression that subsequently erupts when the males come too close to one another , superfecundation would undoubtedly be even more common than it is , but some males will never dare to risk a mating with a dominant tom-cat watching from nearby . |
| 27 | Kurtag is Ligeti 's opposite — a divergent musical thinker whose every new work might be by another composer , were it not for the extreme compression that is constant to his style . |
| 28 | Dropped in , blindfolded , you could have been forgiven for thinking you were in Surrey were it not for the unmistakable twang of the Ulster accent . |
| 29 | One would not be so sensitive about a little natural arrogance in a powerful nation ( a fault from which other powerful nations suffer as well ) were it not for the disastrous effect of the German consciousness of having a ‘ mission ’ in the past . |