Example sentences of "it [was/were] not [prep] the [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | He also remarked , significantly : If it were not for the Union , I venture to think that women would be all over the London trade . |
| 2 | Well , Mrs. Jewkes , if it were not for the thought of that cursed parson I believe in my heart , so great is my weakness , that I could yet forgive this intriguing little slut and take her to my bosom . |
| 3 | Ironically , the Great War would not have been the war that it was if it were not for the machine . |
| 4 | The Rev Aaron Longwe , who has been detained and tortured by the regime for speaking out about corruption , told a gathering of former missionaries at the Kirk 's headquarters in Edinburgh : ‘ If it were not for the Church of Scotland some of us would have been dead by now . ’ |
| 5 | If it were not for the possibility of physical delivery of the underlying cash market good by the seller of the futures contract to the buyer , there would be no mechanism to guarantee convergence of futures and spot prices . |
| 6 | It would be idle to speculate on what the figures might have been if it were not for the security situation . |
| 7 | From what has been said above , it will be clear that the Oxford English Dictionary Department would not be what it is , if it were not for the Supplement project lying at the heart of its work . |
| 8 | He would have laughed if it were not for the echo of the screaming in his head . |
| 9 | It is rather unexpectedly glutinous and flabby to the touch — all-in-all rather unpleasant , if it were not for the splash of vivid yellow it gives to an otherwise sombre winter hedgerow . |
| 10 | The clumsiness is evident in the standard of ‘ the reasonable man ’ , an anthropomorphic ( and male ) standard which might be taken to suggest a paragon of virtue if it were not for the context of partially exculpating a killing by such a person . |
| 11 | If it were not for the fact that he was one of the favourites you 'd have been delighted but as a Gold Cup winner I had to feel a bit disappointed . |
| 12 | This would be a useful feature if it were not for the fact that a certain amount of vaginal discharge is perfectly normal and natural for a woman in her reproductive years ; and what is more , this natural discharge is subject to a fair amount of variation depending on the stage of the menstrual cycle . |
| 13 | This would not matter very much ( for it would always be possible for individual candidates to prove the expectation wrong ) , if it were not for the fact that whole papers in the final examination , or certain questions on papers , are to be ‘ differentiated ’ . |
| 14 | But why ( if it were not for the fact that one is a Christian ) should one be wanting to stay with the experience of women within the biblical tradition ? |
| 15 | He did not enjoy such visits now , and would have been tempted to abandon them if it were not for the fact that people might gossip . |
| 16 | Less directly but equally importantly , people living in the vicinity of a large plant would not take kindly to the idea that it was not under the control of human beings who are on the spot and are assumed to know exactly what is happening . |
| 17 | It was not worth the sulk and you 're ashamed of me are n't you that he could keep up for three days when required . |
| 18 | ( He should have won a Nobel Prize for general relativity , but the idea that space and time were curved was still regarded as too speculative and controversial , so they gave him a prize for the photoelectric effect instead — ; not that it was not worth the prize on its own account . ) |
| 19 | It was not worth the plaintiff suing the driver as he was uninsured and had no money . |
| 20 | One foreign ministry clerk in the early years of the twentieth century " soon decided that it was not worth the trouble to go to the office to sleep when I could sleep more comfortably in my own bed or pass my time in more interesting or more amusing tasks " , while an Italian ambassador is said to have spent only fifteen days of a year in residence in a post which he disliked . |
| 21 | It had not taken long for her to realise that it was not worth the risk of her position and Stephen 's love . |
| 22 | Labour supporters in Bristol had considered canvassing known overseas voters but decided it was not worth the expense . |
| 23 | It was not beyond the wit of any surgeon worthy of his calling or apothecary worthy of his phial to have been able to perform superficial embalming , and it is highly unlikely that assistance was asked for at the London end . |
| 24 | Yet it was not beyond the power of reason and foresight to know that the days of the Indian Empire were numbered , if not in years , still in decades : the best and the wisest of the British in India had known and said it from the beginning . |
| 25 | Ramsay certainly obtained a kiss and a hug from Mariot in farewell , but in front of the others it was not of the sort to analyse carefully ; indeed he got a similar embrace from Black Agnes . |
| 26 | Though , when he did speak , it was not of the detestation of an interview at all , but to enquire loftily , ‘ How do you plan to get to Prague — they 've returned your car ? ’ |
| 27 | When at length Isambard moved his hands to his belt it was not to the hilt of his sword , but to the buckles from which it hung . |
| 28 | The Royal Commission rejected the proposal for a number of reasons , and it was not to the fore of government thinking when the Police and Criminal Evidence Bill was being drafted . |
| 29 | … If there are problems we must and shall follow the path of peace ’ , although this was sound advice , it was not to the liking of his audience . |
| 30 | When he was shown up , it was not to the office of the Internal Accountant , but to that of the General Manager . |