Example sentences of "[be] it [not/n't] for [art] [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 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 | 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 . |
| 6 | 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 . " |
| 7 | You might fear an element of sanctimoniousness here , were it not for the certain knowledge that McIlvanney is probably even harder on himself . |
| 8 | 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 . |
| 9 | It is suggested that this could be faster were it not for the introduced American Mink which may be occupying the position once held by Polecats in the habitat . |
| 10 | Hot off his guest appearances with the Levellers on the New Model Army tour , his solo set could almost share a bed with blues singers were it not for the updated landscapes : from illegal bare-knuckled boxers and the closing of the mines to adventures in Hackney dole office , all delivered with a street-urchin charm that visibly shocks the one or two tweeders who 've mistaken tonight for a ‘ folk ’ evening . |
| 11 | Hot off his guest appearances with the Levellers on the New Model Army tour , his solo set could almost share a bed with blues singers were it not for the updated landscapes : from illegal bare-knuckled boxers and the closing of the mines to adventures in Hackney dole office , all delivered with a street-urchin charm that visibly shocks the one or two tweeders who 've mistaken tonight for a ‘ folk ’ evening . |
| 12 | 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 . |
| 13 | 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 . |
| 14 | But were it not for the perceived economic might of a more unified Economic Community , the dozen or so nations of the Pacific Rim , who have been meeting in Australia , might not have bothered . |
| 15 | Mr Museveni would have been unable to stay in power were it not for the economic success unfolding around him . |
| 16 | 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 . |
| 17 | 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 . |
| 18 | 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 . |
| 19 | Even though it was unsupported by evidence , the conclusion would have been allowable were it not for the second piece of information contained in the warning message . |
| 20 | 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 . |
| 21 | The Goblin King , Grom the Paunch of Misty Mountain , infamous old Goblin Warlord and Lord of the Crags , was suddenly and unexpectedly struck by what could have been a big rock were it not for the sploshy red stuff that exploded from it , showering the goblin horde . |
| 22 | 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 . |
| 23 | 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 . |
| 24 | 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 . |
| 25 | 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 . |
| 26 | At Barbier-Baltz , Enrico Baj and Regis Deparis are exhibiting paintings that might be described as being created by four hands , were it not for the chronological and geographical distance between the execution of the two parts of the picture . |
| 27 | What she should be were it not for the constant muscular spasming and the recurrent confusion of her senses . |
| 28 | Were it not for the single inconvenient occurrence in the data ( example 22 ) of they as the subject of a singular verb , we could set up an initial list of ‘ invariant ’ environments , which themselves are characteristic of this vernacular system , prior to an investigation of patterns underlying the variability in the many environments which permitted it . |
| 29 | The creatures might pass for terrestrial were it not for the thick twisted cable-like sensors which connect head and tail and run on either side of the body , lending a machine-like appearance . |
| 30 | 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 . |