Example sentences of "'s [noun] [verb] been a [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Even so , the older woman 's reactions had been a bit over the top . |
| 2 | They all laughed , for Breeze 's untidiness had been a school joke for years . |
| 3 | As Shahid himself admits , the sight of Ian Salisbury wheeling away so productively at Lord 's might have been a factor in this sudden show of faith . |
| 4 | He said after the funeral that his brother 's marriage had been a shot-gun affair never consummated . |
| 5 | What on Hunter 's initiative had been a saving grace for the College on Vial 's death — the admission of veterinary students to lectures by surgeons and physicians — later became a source of complaint . |
| 6 | Mrs Doran 's husband had been a loser to Phipps , both at golf and in the bedroom . |
| 7 | Lady Grange 's husband had been a Jacobite and during one of their marital battles she hinted that she would expose his seditious leanings — for which he could be hanged . |
| 8 | China 's GDP has been a cause of controversy for years . |
| 9 | Mr Kinnock said that this week 's conference had been a landmark for his party . |
| 10 | But it 's still considered that Balcerowicz 's reforms have been a success . |
| 11 | Hayling 's dummy had been a marathon performance over months , whilst Sutton had had only a short time and few people . |
| 12 | Sir John 's father had been a friend of Ruskin and the family collection contained several of his watercolours of Venice . |
| 13 | Bernard 's father had been a builder , his two elder brothers were house painters ; his older sister was married to a carpenter : another just left nursing to be married ; his two younger sisters were still at school and planned to go to college against their mother 's wishes . |
| 14 | Kitty 's father had been a woodman , born more than ninety years ago , in the reign of Queen Anne , just out of the valley in Lamplugh , a village named after one of the Conqueror 's more savage barons and ever since his brutal arrival sunk in the spellbound gloom of ossified superstition . |
| 15 | Women 's bodies have been a focus of attention through the women 's movement at the different points in its history . |
| 16 | The Mahdi 's skull had been a cause célèbre . |
| 17 | Mr Savimbi 's whereabouts have been a mystery since the battle for Huambo , Unita 's headquarters , began on 9 January . |
| 18 | The county 's recruitment has been a disappointment in many ways . |
| 19 | The Store nomes liked sleeping on fancy bits of carpet , but Masklin 's bed had been a bit of wood . |
| 20 | Most of Emecheta 's life has been a fight to get what she feels is her due . |
| 21 | Asked whether yesterday 's attack had been a case of spontaneous combustion , he said : ‘ Look , it 's a reaction that I put forward there on behalf of , as much as anything else , the readers of our newspaper . |
| 22 | The butcher had lined his pockets too thickly in the past at their expense , and Faith 's will had been a warning , a pointer to their future . |
| 23 | Half an hour of Basil 's time had been a godsend . |
| 24 | It was apparent that Artai 's inquisition had been a kind of test , and that he had passed . |
| 25 | Eddie 's death had been a nightmare that had haunted her family for the last ten years . |
| 26 | Granny 's son had been a gamekeeper on the estate , but now that he had gone elsewhere to work Sir Benson had given Granny notice that she must quit the cottage . |
| 27 | William 's grandad had been a surrogate father to both of them and some small counterweight to the preponderance of nans and aunts and mothers . |
| 28 | Cathy 's mother had been a martyr to her gruff , domineering husband . |