Example sentences of "[noun sg] only [to-vb] [conj] the [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | for every successful candidate there are bound to be at least two who were pipped at the post , who jumped the final fence only to find that the client had chosen one of their fellow front-runners : and these were the ones who — by and large — responded to the survey rather than the successful ones . |
| 2 | I dropped down from the loch only to find that the terrain was considerably steeper than I recalled on the way up , although the compass said I was doing fine . |
| 3 | How many times have hard-working men arrived home from work only to find that the house is upside down , furniture completely re-arranged and their favourite chair completely out of kilter with the best view of the TV ? |
| 4 | More than one manager has devised a superb presentation only to find that the date was yesterday or the time half an hour earlier . |
| 5 | The great noise woke Bacon and he hurried to the college gate only to find that the opportunity to build the wall of brass around Stamford had been missed and all his work was undone . |
| 6 | A common fault here is to think of the rotor disc as being the model , and watch it describe a graceful turn only to find that the fuselage is now pointing its tail at the ground . |
| 7 | I do not want to go on a dictionary-chasing exercise , laying down one word only to find that the marketing men have circumvented it by finding another word . |
| 8 | ‘ Independently of climbing over rocks and fallen stumps of trees , the sportsman has to creep and crawl beneath and among the branches with the utmost caution , taking care only to advance when the bird 's attention is occupied in singing , or in scratching up the leaves in search of food ; to watch its actions it is necessary to remain perfectly motionless , not venturing to move even in the slightest degree , or it vanishes from sight as if by magic … |
| 9 | He knelt to check the old man 's pulse only to discover that the President was uncaring rather than unconscious . |