Example sentences of "[subord] only [pron] [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Most of these people use intramuscular steroids , although only one admits to having shared needles at any time . |
| 2 | Nevertheless Axelrod worked out that , if only somebody had submitted Tit for Two Tats , it would have won the tournament . |
| 3 | If only everybody agreed with you . |
| 4 | If only they realized that she was under strain . |
| 5 | If only they 'd started when they were young like himself , there might have been some hope for them . |
| 6 | If only they 'd stayed in the little home on the train . |
| 7 | If only they 'd never left the basement with the empty meat-safe hanging outside the window . |
| 8 | ( If only they 'd known that my companion was a convicted killer of rubber plants in an Indian restaurant ) . |
| 9 | ‘ If only they 'd kept the old Dicky Doyle cover , with a few blank pages inside , it 'd still be going ’ |
| 10 | If only they 'd had as much sex as Pulp , this childish dry wank might have half a hint of the lascivious , mobile intercourse it so pathetically promises . |
| 11 | ‘ If only they 'd taken me ! |
| 12 | ‘ If only they had saved us . |
| 13 | It had been a gloomy day which suddenly burst into splendour in the evening , the clouds rising behind the fields in the setting sun like mountains ( if only they had been ! ) and above , a darkening amethyst sky with — the finishing touch — a rose pink filigree disc of a moon foreshadowing the peace and perfection of a moonlit night . |
| 14 | If only they had n't become so friendly , he was sure he would have enjoyed having a relationship with her ; but he had a rule about not mixing sex with friendship . |
| 15 | Licence Revoked was originally going to be the title for this last Bond film , and if only they had . |
| 16 | If only they had asked for Donald Duck , a character I hold in great respect ! |
| 17 | If only they had possessed just a little more of that rare commodity , plus the assistance of a blind man with an abacus , it might not have taken both channels until 1.30 in the morning to start predicting an absolute majority for Mr Major . |
| 18 | Yet each knows perfectly well that , if only they had both played COOPERATE , both would have obtained the relatively high reward for mutual cooperation ( $300 in our example ) . |
| 19 | If only they had fought , screamed at one another , gone their separate ways , even had lovers … anything but the sterility of it all , a sterility that had finally been injected into everything they touched . |
| 20 | Fortunately , many of them know that their relatives and friends will be calling in to see them from time to time ; but ‘ from time to time ’ does not take care of those long days and nights in between , when , apart from their often desperate need for company , they feel frighteningly cut off from the world of people who would come to their aid at once if they fell ill , if only they had the means of contacting them . |
| 21 | They live in the past , believing that if only they had had loving parents , or if only little sister had n't been born , or if only they had n't married so-and-so , then everything would be fine . |
| 22 | They live in the past , believing that if only they had had loving parents , or if only little sister had n't been born , or if only they had n't married so-and-so , then everything would be fine . |
| 23 | If only they had not let her go out that night . |
| 24 | If only they had known where she was going . |
| 25 | If only they had insisted she come home earlier . |
| 26 | If only they had been stricter with her . |
| 27 | If only they had done something — anything — differently . |
| 28 | If only they had some grenades of the gas or choke or knockout variety ! |
| 29 | If only they had n't taxed their tendons so fiercely … |
| 30 | Indeed , they would do so , if only they had the time or resources or if the entire teaching staff could agree to abandon lectures simultaneously . |