Example sentences of "[vb past] [pers pn] could [vb infin] [adj] [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | We found we could detect 12.5 fg M tuberculosis DNA with the IS 6110 primers , but only 36 fg with the 65 kilodalton based primers . |
| 2 | They had also created for themselves a moral environment to which few Englishmen found they could take serious exception . |
| 3 | Greatrakes , however , found he could cure advanced scrofula , and soon extended his treatment to dropsy , ague , rheumatism and many other ailments . |
| 4 | I believed I could use that electricity to give life to things that were dead . |
| 5 | I really believed you could take that way out . |
| 6 | ‘ The most glaring one was last night when you tried to appeal to my pragmatic nature by admitting that ‘ it would only be lust ’ — no doubt you imagined we could establish some sort of ‘ adult ’ agreement on the basis of that . ’ |
| 7 | Merging companies believed they could achieve significant gains in productivity and profits , and government policy assumed that these would offset any adverse effects from an increase in monopoly power . |
| 8 | Colours also may get distorted as the eye lens gets yellower with age ; in some pictures of Mulready he believed he could demonstrate this defect . |
| 9 | If the Soviet Union believed it could exploit possible NATO weakness at the intermediate nuclear level , the risks for it from aggression would be less . |
| 10 | The largest area , a hall in which Tiller claimed he could train 200 pupils at any one time , was dominated by three enormous mirrors that would show the girls their mistakes . |
| 11 | That was when Man discovered you could blow molten glass into a bubble at the end of a long metal pipe . |
| 12 | ‘ I heard you could eat any amount of steak and you 'd lose loads of weight ’ , or ‘ did n't I read somewhere that you are n't supposed to eat carbohydrate and protein at the same meal ? ’ |
| 13 | Fortunately , they decided they could bear each other 's company long enough for a farewell tour , starting next month , and also a valedictory album . |
| 14 | When Jonathan Malcolm and his girlfriend met they could have little idea of the trouble which lay in store . |
| 15 | Erm , got back here about quarter past nine , which was great , cos it meant I could watch One Foot in the Grave . |
| 16 | ‘ I never thought I could feel this way about any woman . |
| 17 | As for Mark Crowe , the Argus sport and nature ramble hack , well , I thought I could expect some loyalty there . |
| 18 | Of course , if I had obeyed the rule strictly , I would n't have had any problems , but because I did n't want to knit the next row I thought I could move both cams . |
| 19 | I thought I could discern two elements in his ‘ game ’ — one didactic , the other aesthetic . |
| 20 | Mum and Dad and Mr and Mrs Lewis entered into the spirit of the occasion but I thought I could see some sadness in Mrs Lewis 's eyes . |
| 21 | Paul Rodgers ’ , ‘ I never knew you could grow exotic fruits and flowers in this country ’ is a fluttering envelope-lined greenhouse lit from the inside by two sunbeds . |
| 22 | Thought you could use some help . ’ |
| 23 | I thought you could find some Copydex could n't you ? |
| 24 | She glanced , covertly , at her watch , and saw to her relief that the feature film had only ten minutes to run ; she thought she could last ten minutes . |
| 25 | She thought she could see small shapes in the uprush of flame , like insects burning , crackling furiously as their shells ignited in a sudden flare of brilliance . |
| 26 | She realized that if she chose she could go all day without food and go to bed at any hour she liked . |
| 27 | You 'll probably laugh , but , well , we thought we could help each other to be good — in a spiritual way I mean . |
| 28 | Selling mostly proprietary technology to a niche market meant they could charge high prices : on average , gross profit margins in the workstation business have been 15–20% higher than those in the PC industry . |
| 29 | In addition to middle-class tourists , Cook 's facilities and efficiency attracted illustrious clients who included most of the British royal family , the Kaiser , the Czar and many European aristocrats , politicians ( including Gladstone ) , bishops and archbishops , industrialists like Krupp , and Indian princes who felt they could entrust whole entourages — wives , children , advisers , court officials , servants , elephants , tigers and artillery to Cook 's care when they visited Britain to celebrate Victoria 's Jubilee . |
| 30 | The more explicit pictures referred to in the text have not been reproduced as we felt they could cause unnecessary offence to both readers and distributors |