Example sentences of "what [vb mod] have [been] a [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | All these factors reduce the response rate , no matter how good the original sample may have been , so that what may have been a reasonable one-in-five sample to begin with ends up as nearer one-in-ten actually obtained , because of losses . |
| 2 | And there is a point of view from which Ronald Fraser might be seen as a man of Marxist leanings who paid a professional adviser what may have been a fair whack of a working man 's wages to enquire with him into the deficiencies of his affective life . |
| 3 | During the terrible siege of Leningrad in the last war supplies were eventually conveyed to the starving thousands on carts from Finland across the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland ( it was fortunately an exceptionally cold winter ) — what must have been a fearsome journey . |
| 4 | Little is known of the inhabitants of the old manor house with its interesting architecture in the centre of the village , but the oddly named Hanging Grimston is within the parish , and here the Bouchier family lived in what must have been a grand castle with cottages nearby , and owned much land . |
| 5 | He even came across a restricted locality where lived a colony of what must have been a new sub-species of the extremely rare , Small Mountain Ringlet butterfly , for they were at a much reduced altitude to their normal haunts , and altogether smaller than the regular species . |
| 6 | A big cat that has only recently gone extinct is the sabre-tooth ( " tiger " ) , named after its colossal canine teeth which jutted down from the upper jaw in the front of what must have been a terrifying gape . |
| 7 | I suspect you were disguised as a personable young man , a merry companion for the Gascons , after what must have been a long and gruelling journey . |
| 8 | In the same period , Arthur Young , subsidized by the big landlords to promote agricultural improvement , put his finger on what must have been a general attitude , when he described cattle-stealers in the Lincolnshire fens : ‘ So wild a country nurses up a race of people as wild as the fen , and thus the morals and eternal welfare of numbers are hazarded and ruined for want of an inclosure . ’ |
| 9 | Peter clearly took to heart what must have been a challenging and potentially testing message . |
| 10 | In such moments he was not himself , for age had quelled the turbulent spirit , and tamed what must have been a fierce temper indeed … . |
| 11 | There is a crack around most of the head in what must have been a horizontal line at the time of casting . |
| 12 | It is also worth speculating on the fate of what must have been a nonplussed Christopher Chryselius , Sir John Pennington must have been thoroughly annoyed at the outcome , too . |
| 13 | Please pass on my congratulations to the Editor and his team for what must have been a considerable amount of sustained commitment , in producing such a high quality publication for the benefit of all members and the industry in general . ’ |
| 14 | To his absolute delight the first trap had held what must have been a seven pound salmon , plus a couple of mullet which he had ignored . |
| 15 | I think that for once we need feel no qualms in taking Diodorus as a faithful epitomizer of what must have been a compact and careful section of Posidonius on the slave war in Sicily . |
| 16 | what , but , it 's about the Co-Op , I went to the Co-Op in me dream , nothing but have on , and I was getting some of them what must have been a monthly thing |
| 17 | The Sun decisively sabotaged what should have been a major circulation booster for its main competitor . |
| 18 | What should have been a great event was diminished . |
| 19 | ENGLAND manager Geoff Cooke , horrified by violence that marred what should have been a gentle centenary celebration , read the riot act to the players after England 's new kids on the block found themselves on the rack at Leicester . |
| 20 | What should have been a simple review looked like it was about to turn into techno-confusion when the owner 's manual stated I could find a hook-up diagram on page 42 , and it was n't there . |
| 21 | Twice , in less than four days , what should have been a simple operation had turned bad . |
| 22 | Midge protested at what she saw as bureaucratic interference in what should have been a private grief . |
| 23 | Gloucester never got themselves into gear and they made hard work of what should have been a straightforward game … in the second half they hammered away at Scottish … all but lived on their line but failed to get over it … |
| 24 | Home I went for the Christmas vac with the ragged tatters of what should have been a well-moulded start to a brilliant career ! |
| 25 | What should have been a triumphant closing ceremony turned into an embarrassing muddle , so much so that Polish television switched to a football match . |
| 26 | To historians of the left the new popular culture represented a fatal and quite decisive fragmentation of what should have been a working-class consciousness . |
| 27 | But there 's a big difference in my view between the sort of regular abuse and assaults on staff in a Casualty Department and somebody walking into what should have been a locked ward on a children 's unit in a hospital at two o'clock in the morning . |
| 28 | In what should have been a single sketch here protracted over two debilitating hours the only observable success was in managing to incite a young child in the audience to enquire with regular insistence : ‘ What 's going on Mum ? ’ |
| 29 | Only high spot from what should have been a red letter day was the terrific £300 raised for the local Hartlepool hospice . |
| 30 | WHEN HUNDREDS of nuclear engineers came together for what should have been a festive shindig last week , there was universal gloom . |