Example sentences of "he [vb past] been a [adv] [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | ‘ No , indeed , ’ he answered gravely , although he had been a little shocked if truth were told . |
| 2 | ever since Grasmere when the trap the fisherman had sprung — and which had seemed so foolproof — had simply not worked , he had been a little abashed . |
| 3 | He had been a little surprised that Miriam should surrender to this sort of jealousy , but perhaps he was not altogether displeased , because he found it feminine … in an attractive woman even faults and weaknesses are endearing . |
| 4 | Owen himself rather enjoyed the views but he had been a little surprised to learn that they had also drawn the Prince . |
| 5 | He had enjoyed being able to tell Sunil all about it at lunch , though he had been a little worried by the way Sunil had then gazed at Gooseneck throughout the meal with evident hero-worship . |
| 6 | Joining in meant she could lose herself , forget , live for the moment just as Mark had always done — Oh , he had been a little wild on occasions , she knew that deep down , but Mark , being Mark , things had always turned out OK in the end … until that last time , of course … |
| 7 | If his father had been a hardnose Republican , he had been a very strange one , for the cash side of the firm , the accountancy , was run by a level-headed Protestant called Tom Holdfast , and a couple of the men were also Protestants . |
| 8 | He had been a very successful amateur boxer , and sometimes would try to relieve our tension by sparring with me , teaching me basic moves of a sport I knew nothing about and instinctively detested . |
| 9 | In 1889 , the year before the Leeds Congress , he was offered the living of St Katherine 's Church where he had been a very popular curate . |