Example sentences of "it [modal v] have [verb] as a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | It may have begun as a seasonal steading , only later being permanently occupied . |
| 2 | Indeed it may have increased as a result of the general tendency to centralize health , educational and welfare services and even shops in key villages or other local centres . |
| 3 | It may have come as a surprise to some , especially those nations where they have a fixed XV to which they only add as time goes by ’ . |
| 4 | It should have come as a complete surprise , but the man swayed , taking Ross 's fist on his shoulder . |
| 5 | Whatever it is about the cuckoo 's gape that acts like a drug on the host 's nervous system , it must have originated as a genetic mutation . |
| 6 | He had picked up the pieces after the war and it must have come as a total shock to someone with his background to find players in his side who rocked the boat . |
| 7 | Being so far advanced in this objective , even before the evening started , it must have come as a great surprise when the meeting was jolted into controversy by an unexpected suggestion from Councillor B. Watts . |
| 8 | ‘ When you got the solicitor 's letter saying you 'd inherited the place it must have come as a terrific shock . |
| 9 | It might have served as a link between Britain and the Six , but it was not until after its first application to join the EEC had been rejected in 1963 that Britain began seriously to consider this as a possibility . |
| 10 | Trouble is it might have started as a bit of a joke but it 's no joke now — not for me anyway . |
| 11 | In a crisis it could have doubled as a draught excluder or , if the pub got rough , as a cosh . |
| 12 | It would have served as a substitute-gratification for their own sadism ( i.e. , ‘ I can not retaliate against my father , but I can against my younger brother ’ ) ; but also as a defence on the part of the ego ( i.e. , ‘ I am spared the anxiety of being made the object of an attack if I can instead become the attacker ’ ) ; finally , it would also have contributed a first , rudimentary focus for the superego ( i.e. , ‘ My father is not now the attacker — I am — hence I am to that extent my father ! ’ ) . |
| 13 | ‘ It would have failed as a joke if they had n't been , would n't it ? ’ |