Example sentences of "[adj] [was/were] [pron] [not/n't] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | The results of this survey would have been entertaining were it not for the fact that this is such a serious subject . |
| 2 | Edwin , I would be utterly desolate were it not for my faithful companion here . |
| 3 | The incident would be funny were it not that a similar stunt had been pulled in Kismayu , southern Somalia 's largest port , at the end of March . |
| 4 | Even though it was unsupported by evidence , the conclusion would have been allowable were it not for the second piece of information contained in the warning message . |
| 5 | But , presumably , he would do , he would work very hard were he not a royal person , would he not ? |
| 6 | All this would be fine were it not for the fact that Pearce has chosen to support the main course of his assault with a little verbal side-dish , to wit : an attack on Punch . |
| 7 | Overcoming these rivalries , which would be pretty were they not so debilitating , has proved harder than talking about them . |
| 8 | The creatures might pass for terrestrial were it not for the thick twisted cable-like sensors which connect head and tail and run on either side of the body , lending a machine-like appearance . |
| 9 | Many of these interactions could be made automatic were it not for the basic need for a human presence for the social/ economic reasons mentioned above and because the human operator has to act as the ultimate back-stop when things go badly wrong . |
| 10 | All might still have been well were it not for the rupture-discs on the vents above the reactor . |
| 11 | The contest , owing to the tiger 's height , colouring , and ability to move without making a sound , would be very unequal were it not for the wind-factor operating in favour of the sportsman . |
| 12 | She loved the country life of the estate and could have been entirely happy were it not for Stephen 's habitual absences which only seemed to emphasise the constant presence of his mother . |
| 13 | THE stubborn candidature of Mr John Browne for Winchester would be comic were it not also deceitful — he proclaims himself the Conservative in all his literature — and dangerous to the Tory interest in a desperately close election . |
| 14 | For more than a week , a group of grey-suited former communists has played with the nation 's future with an irresponsibility and spite that would be risible were it not so dangerous . |
| 15 | It would have been unlikely were it not for the introduction of the microcomputer , and in the UK the installation of microcomputers in large numbers of secondary schools has stimulated perhaps more of this work than anywhere else . |
| 16 | States have shown a capacity for self-destruction in the past and wars have come with a regularity which would be monotonous were it not so horrifying ; history belies the claims of statesmen to be in charge of events . |
| 17 | But , unlike Locke , Parker omitted to account for this self-evidence , and so laid himself open to the objection of James Lowde , a defender of innateness , that such truths would not have been self-evident were they not innate . |
| 18 | Indeed the most dramatically powerful scene could be painfully sentimental were it not for the fierce intensity with which Tom Fleming expresses his feelings . |
| 19 | ‘ God give me strength , ’ he yelled , instantly turning his attention back to the younger man who stood before him , and whose woebegone expression would have been comical were it not so pitiful . |
| 20 | The grant will assist the final editing of the journal , and the cross-checking of some of Nadel 's local tours and identifications of people and places , which would remain obscure were it not for more recent ethnographic inquiry . |
| 21 | Despite the relief provided by a wide , bashful grin , Singleton 's arrogance would be unbearable were it not fuelled by righteous indignation and an urgent need to communicate . |
| 22 | The great , I mean , you 've a valid point and I think it 's due to the recession in America , I think we were disappointed were we not Bruce , that the results of our trip to er , New York State , and this has nothing to do with the enthusiasm of the business people we met there , everything to do , in my view , with the fact that the recession , and America 's been through a very tough recession , they just do n't look to expand elsewhere , but the reaction we had in , in er , in America was very , very powerful of , of a wish to want to do something when things look better . |
| 23 | And did you see vessels in the area , because you yourself would be too young were you not ? |
| 24 | That he has been able to combine both ministries would be surprising were it not for the fact that he has worked as an active Socialist besides having a good track record in cultural affairs . |