Example sentences of "[vb infin] [be] [verb] [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | They 'd dived , you see , but eventually they had to surface — the air must 've been getting bad — and up they came , drew nearly alongside a German destroyer the pack had left behind when they called off the hunt , waiting there , just in case Taureg surfaced . |
| 2 | She and the others — when they let their capes fall open-were wearing one-piece outfits of a lighter and duller blue than their capes , with black boots and belts . |
| 3 | Only thus will land be made available at minimum instead of monopoly prices , and only thus will the would-be developer be enabled to foresee his commitments and calculate his risks — both essential conditions of ‘ mass production ’ in house-building . |
| 4 | Each of us has to find our own truth and our own self in relation to the world ; all you can do is to remain true to yourself and your chosen path . |
| 5 | The worst thing we can do is become pred-ictable . ’ |
| 6 | What the state can and should do is make sure that tax does not distort the choices involved . |
| 7 | And the least I can do is make sure he has some peace and quiet while he can , poor little scrap , she thought . |
| 8 | Anne trusted you with the parcel ; the least you can do is make sure it reaches its destination on time . |
| 9 | Erm and what we will do is make sure you 've got enough room for fifteen foot by eight foot with with whatever space in front of it as as a as a lawn if you like . |
| 10 | All we can do is make sure adequate information is available so they know the likely effects . ’ |
| 11 | ‘ You 've practically exiled yourself from your family and your home and your friends , you think you 've failed your finals but you say you 've no intention of sitting your re-sits even if you have ; you 've no money and you have n't even been looking for a job ; you 're getting done for shop-lifting and you 're acting like such a fucking dick-head you seem determined to get shot of the last few pals you do have left … and all you can do is make smart-ass remarks . ’ |
| 12 | Images and echoes fill the room , diffuse and speeding , the glass darkened to a degree no one thought possible ; his immense talent , his ring wisdom , his antipathy for chemicals , argued against destructibility ; all he would ever do is grow old . |
| 13 | ‘ What computers can easily do is to enable unskilled people to produce rubbish twice as quickly as they did before , ’ Forsyth remarks . |
| 14 | What it should do is to stop issuing patents for plants and animals and await the outcome of proper international debate . |
| 15 | All that formational analysis can do is to put sociological questions to that general history and , at times , from these questions , suggest new areas for detailed research . |
| 16 | All that natural selection can do is accept certain new variations , and reject others . |
| 17 | What a book can do is to present current thinking on the subject in a logical pattern in language familiar to the reader , so that the concepts of project management are no longer foreign . |
| 18 | What Brussels should do is to provide direct support for research students and equipment in the less advantaged areas provided they interact with major European collaborators . |
| 19 | I was isn a relationship which I could feel was going wrong — in the same way that all my previous relationships had gone wrong . |
| 20 | Nicholas believed that the best thing non-Russians could do was become Russian . |
| 21 | The antibiotics were being injected into the brain at doses sufficient to block all protein synthesis for several hours , and yet it appeared that no other aspect of the animal 's behaviour was affected — not its capacity to perform already learned tasks , to see and respond to the world around or to act otherwise ‘ normally ’ ; the only thing it seemingly could n't do was to memorize new tasks . |
| 22 | What they could n't do was perform meaningless calculations and relate them to situations which were equally meaningless to them . |
| 23 | If I was to spend race day reporting as a spectator , then the least I could do was arrive early and attempt the course myself . |
| 24 | What it would n't do was ensure good pictures , and Herbert Wilcox saw at once that such legislation would create an ‘ awkward squad ’ of British films which would immediately become the laughing stock of the world . ’ |
| 25 | It is difficult to appreciate it now in the liberated 80's , but at the time the worst thing an unmarried girl could do was get pregnant , and the worst news a mother could hear from her daughter was , ‘ I 'm going to have a baby ! ’ |
| 26 | All she could do was to keep vigilant , and to hope against hope that Matthew would soon tire of the old man , or that the old man would soon tire of deliberately using the boy in order to antagonise her . |
| 27 | This means that we deprive ourselves of their expertise and the valuable contributions they can make as well as failing to challenge the implications of statements such as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher 's claim , ‘ Children who need to be able to count and multiply are learning anti-racist mathematics — whatever that may be . ’ |
| 28 | The noise level in the room is evidence that the children are having a good time but they do n't like being asked silly questions . |
| 29 | Claire does n't like being called elitist . |
| 30 | Professional carpet fitters get paid per square metre ( or yard ) of carpet laid , and they do n't like being given fiddly jobs like kitchens , bathrooms , or small bedrooms , unless they are part of a whole-house installation . |