Example sentences of "[was/were] [adv] for [pos pn] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | But they did n't go in a book ; they were only for his friends to read . |
| 2 | If Waugh and Orwell did not exactly despise the complexities of Modernism , Joyce-style or Eliot-style , at least they recognised , and early , that such complexities were not for their times and not for them . |
| 3 | Not only does the 24-hour delivery time achieved week in week out put most publishers to shame , but if it were not for their buyers ' notes and regular representative visits , we as a small bookshop all too often ignored by publishers — The Bookseller apart , whose efforts are also appreciated — would not be made aware of new titles and promotions . |
| 4 | And Clara , walking by her side and hearing these words , burst suddenly and at last into loud hysterical weeping , and as the tears flooded down her hot cheeks she knew that they were not for her father , but for the meanness and the lack of love , and for the fear that she would die in so ugly a hole , and so unloved . |
| 5 | At the western outskirts of the town is the Bliss Valley Tweed Mill , an imposing stone-built factory which , if it were not for its chimney rising from a domed tower , would look like a great country mansion . |
| 6 | First , that the conditions I have described constituted a substantial interference with the residents ' enjoyment of their property up to June 1990 ; second , that enough residents were affected to constitute a public nuisance if it were not for his other defences . |
| 7 | As one Pisticci peasant puts it : ‘ if it were not for my family , I 'd not be wearing myself out ’ . |
| 8 | If it were not for my concern for my grandmother , I would — I would put you out of the car right now , I would let you wait beside the road until someone took pity on you and offered to drive you back to Milano . ’ |
| 9 | Floating there , it could have been a bath toy duck , daintily hand-painted by some artistic genius , plaything of a princess , if it were n't for its air of fragility , and slim — needle-slim — bill . |
| 10 | I might be impressed and affected by this sudden talent for suffering , if it were n't for its monotony : fear , just fear , fear only . |
| 11 | Something that she would have grasped , if it were n't for her own stupidity . |
| 12 | And she might have been able to deal with the situation — might , indeed , have been able to suppress and finally bury such an errant emotion — if it were n't for her present situation . |
| 13 | If it were n't for our export orders , our figures would be looking rather sick . |
| 14 | ‘ If it were n't for your penny-pinching ways I would n't be so eager to spend my time in London . |
| 15 | If it were n't for my kids now I 'd be doing untold things . |
| 16 | If it were n't for my sister I 'd turn the whole matter over to the police and let them find Garry . ’ |
| 17 | ‘ I 'm sure it was n't ; Garry is n't the brightest of men ; he 'd deceive himself into thinking I would n't try to trace him , and if it were n't for my sister I would n't bother ; the discrepancies in the accounts would be compensated for by his permanent absence from the firm . ’ |
| 18 | And him with nothing to his name if it were n't for my late mistress ! ’ |
| 19 | If it were n't for his days at the mucky end of the trade , he would never have earned enough to buy a house and he would n't have met Raksha who had been doing a bit of topless work to supplement her salary as a nurse . |
| 20 | In the car , on the homeward journey , Cassie found herself reflecting , as she glanced covertly at his profile and at the thin hands lightly gripping the steering wheel … those same brown and capable hands that had figured so prominently in her earlier fantasies … that he would make the perfect lover , if it were n't for his apparent indifference to women ; and perhaps , also , to having sex ; although this last was only an assumption . |
| 21 | This was all for her benefit . |
| 22 | Will worked hard all his life , and I think it was all for his family . |
| 23 | He looked upwards now at the bunting stretched across the girders of the platform , then said , ‘ With a little imagination you know I could dismiss the Coronation and take it that this show of affection was all for my being twenty-one today . |
| 24 | If the lad was a bit stern with her at times , it was only for her own good . ’ |
| 25 | She knew he wanted her , and even though it was only for her body Kath was so desperate for his attention that she was ready to settle even for that . |
| 26 | We gave him whiskey and had n't to tie him up till the morning and that was only for his own good . ’ |
| 27 | Jesus was speaking to them in a , in a concealed language , it was only for his disciples , and whilst all the people heard it , they did n't understand it , the disciples did n't understand it , and Jesus afterwards explained to his followers what he was saying . |
| 28 | He 's claimed that the drug he took was only for his asthma , and was NOT on the list of banned substances . |
| 29 | He said he had some news , but it was only for my ears and I must keep it confidential . |
| 30 | He 'd thrown rocks at windows of offices and works they 'd sacked him from , he 'd defaced buildings , scratched officials ' cars and mutilated bonnet mascots ( though that was largely for his own safety ) and he 'd made bomb-hoax telephone calls . |