Example sentences of "it took a [adj] [noun] [to-vb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | A horrible weakness seemed to have invaded her limbs and it took a supreme effort to drag her attention back to the conversation . |
| 2 | Everyone knew that the rules were being stretched , but it took a skilled operator to persuade an official to ignore evidence that was blatantly paraded before him . |
| 3 | The Chinese also knew another archaic type of water-clock , a floating bowl with a hole in its base that was adjusted so that it took a specific time to sink . |
| 4 | Lord Ennals said : ‘ It took a Labour government to create the NHS and it will now take a Labour government to save the NHS . ’ |
| 5 | If people told me that was all well and good but if they did n't , but I did hear about this erm er she did the operation on the girl who er who could n't get rid of her baby , and then it , she lo she sent she sent a telegram to her husband or a letter er it took a long while to come from the Far East , he was in the Far East . |
| 6 | He 's a fabulous guy and very funny , but it took a long time , and I do n't take credit for it , but it took a long time to put him in a situation where I felt that he was at maximum ‘ comfortableness ’ , so that his shyness — and he was very shy — was overcome . |
| 7 | We got away with it somehow , but it took a long time to live that one down . |
| 8 | It took a long time to open it and when he drank , it tasted warm against his mouth , as if it had been in the sun ; only there was no sun , not even at fifteen thousand . |
| 9 | Type-cases too were heavy , and if one fell it took a long time to sort out the type again . |
| 10 | Now 43 , she is married with a two-year-old daughter and says it took a long time to settle down to a ‘ normal life ’ . |
| 11 | It took a long time to bring the fire under control , the local pubs kept open for three days and nights . |
| 12 | It took a long time to figure out how his hair goes . |
| 13 | At any rate it took a long time to synthesize . |
| 14 | ‘ The device looks simple , but it took a long time to find companies that could make it , ’ he says . |
| 15 | It took a long time to focus and get rid of the swimming water . |
| 16 | It took a long time to break away from the idea that children were at best potentially evil and indolent , that they were little pitchers that had to be filled with information and moral guidance before they filled themselves with wickedness , idleness , and nonsense . |
| 17 | Progress was slow and it took a long time to get a handicap , the first being 17 . |
| 18 | It took a long time to get round to the subject of Silvia and Jeff . |
| 19 | Erm it took a long time to get round to it , you know , the , the agreement to the twenty thousand . |
| 20 | It took a long time to adjust after discovering the baby was a girl . ’ |
| 21 | Because we think we have tamed industrialism we no longer fear it ; but in the age of laissez faire , when the power of the manufacturers seemed unbounded , it took a certain courage to think for oneself and run the risk of appearing ridiculous . |
| 22 | Jenna slept badly , waking with a throbbing pain in her head , and it took a great effort to swing both her feet from the bed and sit on the edge . |
| 23 | At the end it took a photo-finish camera to separate them , the Scotsman winning the verdict in 10.25 seconds . |
| 24 | It took a conscious effort to resist the urge to close my eyes , while I signalled to the traffic behind and made an emergency stop . |
| 25 | It took a considerable effort to rip her eyes away . |
| 26 | Middlesbrough 2 Plymouth Argyle 1 ON a day when former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton was on top form it took a top goal to beat him . |
| 27 | But it took a trained observer to follow her through the quicksands of her disapprobation ; a false step on the part of one of the aunts , for instance , could have reversed her attitude , and led her into a eulogy of black , into a martyred position whence the garments of all the others were an insult to her lone and exclusive widowhood , into a position where she alone had the right to flout the weight of tradition . |
| 28 | It took a fierce effort to get her back on her mental feet . |
| 29 | It took a little while to dispose of the competition . |
| 30 | It took an injured knee to convince the 28-year-old star that he wanted to become an actor . |