Example sentences of "only have been [verb] [prep] a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | ‘ Mind Full Of Worries ’ is a strolling , easy to like thing with strumming guitars , clever lyrics that could probably only have been written by a woman , and a somewhat dreary American voice that sounds a bit too country for my liking . |
| 2 | The paragraph itself could only have been written by a cad . |
| 3 | The government 's Countryside Commission argued that the licence should only have been renewed for a few years during a thorough review of military land requirements . |
| 4 | The anatomy of living things is so complex and delicate that they could only have been created by a Supreme Creator . |
| 5 | Having observed Thatcher 's boorish behaviour , Abse comments : ‘ Such a jealous and ruthless super-ego can only have been formed by a prohibiting mother who is brusque and prematurely insists upon early toilet training . ’ |
| 6 | Although it hardly seemed to notice the Hooligan affair , and its only immediate response was a front-page poem ‘ Hot Weather and Crime ’ which can only have been intended as a slap in the face for The Times leader on ‘ The Weather and the Streets ’ : The message was clear enough : if it took crime and violence to attract the attention of the mighty to the lives of the poor , then so be it . |
| 7 | He wrote : ‘ But it is when we examine the zoology of these countries that we find what we most require — evidence of a very striking character that these great islands must once have formed a part of the continent , and could only have been separated at a very recent geological epoch . |
| 8 | At a time when business is tottering , Landy 's enterprise sails close to the wind and could only have been mounted by a dealer whose new lease in Charlotte Street has secured his own operation . |
| 9 | But if one manages to gain their confidence the reward is a feast of learning and interesting comment which can only have been acquired by a lifetime spent largely in reading . |
| 10 | However , these thoughts would only have been thought by a Christian audience of that time . |
| 11 | The poems which impressed the gentleman could only have been produced by a poet with rings around her eyes . |
| 12 | The figures are wildly optimistic , and could only have been extrapolated from a short trial of about 10 operations . |
| 13 | This case of pistols was the last and longest-surviving of the Collector 's many treasures from the Exhibition , and really , he thought , with the possible exception of the velocipede which had inspired the trace of fortifications , the only one to have been of any use ; most of the others , of course , were now immovably set in the dried mud ramparts and could only have been recovered with a pick . |