Example sentences of "could [not/n't] [verb] [adv prt] [adj] [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | This was directly aimed at the ‘ surplus countries ’ , especially Japan and Germany , and was an attempt to bind them into a system where they could not pile up persistent surpluses . |
| 2 | Riven could not make out individual animals , only the shape of the pack . |
| 3 | Finn must have been lying awake in the darkness , as she was , the wall separating them like Tristan 's sword , for she could hear the soft murmur of him and Francie talking together for a little while , but she could not make out one word . |
| 4 | All this was swept away by a new principle which was introduced in the early part of the nineteenth century , namely , that a local authority could not carry out any function unless strictly authorised by statute . |
| 5 | As the pain became more intense there was less and less space for his mind to wander over things , undone things that suddenly took on ridiculous and unrealistic urgency , but his thoughts were still churning with his innards and he could not keep out stray fragments of enacted scenes any more than he could stop the brilliant black fish from swimming in the air past his eyes . |
| 6 | Try as he might , the man could not cast out this devil of himself . |
| 7 | Their problem is not that they could not take on this responsibility before but that they were not asked to . |
| 8 | While this was useful and did hold the attention of members interested in the specific subjects being examined , the subcommittees moved from one area of expenditure to another each session so that they developed no expertise and could not follow up previous work . |
| 9 | The Libyan plane was about eight nautical miles from Italian air space when it was told by air traffic controllers in Malta that it could not fly over Italian territory , an Italian air force spokesman said . |
| 10 | Anne wrestled with the ruler and map , putting crosses at our dead-reckoned positions since we still could not pick up any navaids . |
| 11 | First , I recall that when I was a theological student , having come from a fairly conservative church , I could not square up I Kings with I Chronicles . |
| 12 | At least , he supposed that it was important , but he could not work up any enthusiasm . |
| 13 | Officials in charge of the Cervical Screening Programme say women should not be deterred from having tests although they could n't rule out more mistakes . |
| 14 | But by the time you were born I could n't give up Other world ; I was deep in the battle we wage here against the powers of the dark , and to leave it would have been deserting . |
| 15 | I knew I could n't last out fifteen minutes of such silence and that I , at least , would get a childish attack of nervous giggles . |
| 16 | Jesus had been , with his disciples and he had spent the whole day in teaching and preaching to the people , he 'd been explaining to them what the kingdom of God was like , he 'd been telling them some of the parables that perhaps we 're familiar with , he 'd been telling them about the parable of the sewer and the seed , the man who went out and he sewed his seed and different things went wrong birds came and picked up the stuff that fell by the wayside , some fell on stony ground and it could n't put down any roots , some fell amongst thorns and they were quickly choked , but some did fall in good prepared soil and that grew . |
| 17 | Jezrael could n't work up any spit . |
| 18 | ‘ Mary could n't come over last night . |
| 19 | Craig could n't get over last night how much looked like . |
| 20 | Could n't get up this morning . |
| 21 | And these I could n't get up this morning thought about . |
| 22 | I could n't get out this morning , all the trouble , I 've had a fortnight 's troubles , he 's there the week |
| 23 | Downing Street could n't turn down this gift horse for fear of offending the President but at the same time , they had nowhere for him to go so since March , Maxat , a champion racehorse , was stuck in these Turkmen stables waiting impatiently , getting flabby and fractious . |
| 24 | Biff could n't wait out those years , case he died first . |