Example sentences of "could [not/n't] have [verb] a [noun] " in BNC.
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| 1 | He felt that Woolley had no right to be so contemptuous , so damaging ; Killion alone could not have stopped a bombing raid ; besides , had n't he just destroyed two , maybe three of the enemy ? |
| 2 | Melanie could not have supported a laughing , singing Victoria for breakfast and Uncle Philip might have struck the baby , which would have been dreadful . |
| 3 | The decision is justified on the grounds that there was no guarantee that the plaintiff would receive any of the fine and that Parliament could not have intended a workman to be deprived of the chance to seek compensation for his injuries . |
| 4 | To achieve it he had to work on individuals , exploiting relationships which were not open , public ones : he could not have called a meeting to appeal to everyone 's obligations as a relative by descent and by marriage , as if these were of the same kind as those of a citizen , an Arab or a Muslim . |
| 5 | He could not have borne a mirror in the room with him now , for fear of what he might see ; in his heart he knew that it would be unrecognisable , as he failed to recognise the turmoil of his own feelings as having anything to do with the self he had always known . |
| 6 | Even Hazel could not have said a word for his life . |
| 7 | He could not have milked a cow , and he poked pigs much more often in cartoons than in the farmyard . |
| 8 | This set Jean Powers off on a torrent of exclamations and denials so that Helen could not have got a word in had she wished to ; she stood and looked at Giles Carnaby and tried to be calm . |
| 9 | Mr Thomson said Mr Wilson could not have got a bus to the area where he was found , which more than a mile from a road , and he could not have walked the distance on his own . |
| 10 | If the censor ever allowed any of the story to appear in the newspapers , there would be tales of hot pursuit and near interception — the hot pursuit line giving the l.O.s particular pleasure as the fighters mentioned were Defiants , which everybody knew could not have caught a cold . |
| 11 | Ropes were then put on to keep it there but these alone certainly could not have restrained a 5-ton ( 5.08 tonnes ) elephant if it had taken it into its head to dismount during the journey . |
| 12 | Even at their height , the number of these ‘ misfits ’ , many of whom ‘ could not have found a profession under any circumstances ’ , was very limited . |
| 13 | ‘ But I 'm not at all hungry , really , ’ said Breeze , who could n't have swallowed a mouthful at that moment . |
| 14 | Unfortunately , as I said , my mother is allergic to feathers , so I could n't have kept a bird at home even if I 'd had one . |
| 15 | I could n't have run a raid yesterday , and I 'm certain sure he could n't . |
| 16 | Oh I could n't have done a quarter of it . |
| 17 | Oh , I could n't have done a quarter of it . |
| 18 | Walt Disney could n't have staged a better aqua show with Azinger hooking into water , and opponent Ballesteros topping it in there after him — and failing , despite a 40-foot putt . |
| 19 | You could n't have got a baby-sitter ? ’ |
| 20 | In any case , she could n't have held a conversation there . |
| 21 | We could n't have left a tap on , as we had taken the precaution of turning the water off at the mains , so where could it be coming from ? |
| 22 | Certainly , she reflected at the end of a long , tiring but satisfying day , she could n't have found a job more calculated to keep her mind off the past . |
| 23 | Not because I could n't have had a holiday only that er we had loads of milk so we had to go and fetch it from the farms and you got ta have somebody to take it out . |
| 24 | ‘ You could n't have had a golf course made for a man 's game more than that golf course for John Daly , ’ observed the man who has won more Masters than anyone , six all told and now playing his 34th in succession . |
| 25 | We do know that he could n't have used a beehive . |