Example sentences of "[was/were] the first [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | These were the first large-scale arrests of government opponents since a program of political reforms started in 1989 . |
| 2 | ‘ The flights were flagrant violations of the no-fly zone but they were the first armed attacks recorded by the UN since shortly after the no-fly zone was instituted ’ last October , the State Department spokesman , Richard Boucher , said . |
| 3 | It is known that Israeli doctors were the first outside medical experts to reach the scene . |
| 4 | They were the first correct entries out of the hat to the question : How many weeks was Mull of Kintyre at No 1 in the UK charts ? |
| 5 | ‘ Oh no , darling , you did n't think you were the first clever little bitch to have the idea ? |
| 6 | ‘ So , the Luger 's a German gun — and who were the first major users of chemical weapons on this planet ? |
| 7 | The jobless figures were the first economic indicators to come out during the campaign , there are many more before election day . |
| 8 | Because the movies were the first real mass entertainment the showmen realized that the sky was the limit and that there was no possible reason for timidity and restraint . |
| 9 | One group of male workers merits special attention : the cotton spinners , who were the first real group of factory workers . |
| 10 | B. Hunslett claims the Service Crew were the first élitist group to travel the country with the casual look , and that they brought it to the attention of the general public . |
| 11 | Here , then , were the first tangible fruits of his aspirations towards " wholeness " . |
| 12 | Although Harriot drew the first map of the Moon as seen through the telescope , or glass , Galileo 's series of observations were the first serious scientific investigation of the Moon 's surface . |
| 13 | More ominous still were the first serious cracks in the Church 's spiritual hegemony . |
| 14 | — these were the first decent UG plates to appear in the hobby , and I have always stuck to them , having no cause to complain after 15 years of use . |
| 15 | This neglect of Braque is strange , since his were the first Cubist paintings , and since , as opposed to Picasso , he actually showed Cubist works in a public Salon . |
| 16 | You were the first blind person to be employed in the County Council ? |
| 17 | The Italians , and the Dutch , surprisingly , were the first true landscape painters , the Italian countryside always their source of inspiration . |
| 18 | The Wailers were the first true self-contained live act in reggae not dependent on any pick-up members and capable of blowing away any other band in the world . |
| 19 | These were the first nuclear stations to be built anywhere in the United Kingdom for some time , and they attracted special attention . |
| 20 | These were the first court-ordered executions in Chad for many years . |
| 21 | These were the first multiparty elections to be held in the Soviet Union , the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet having in December 1989 abolished the constitutionally guaranteed communist monopoly of power [ see p. 37129 ] and having earlier in February passed a new law regulating the establishment and functioning of new political parties ; in fact new or revived political parties had been emerging in Lithuania since the beginning of 1989 [ see pp. 36487 ; 36854 ] . |
| 22 | Although we did not know it , we were the first white men he allowed into his home other than on business . |
| 23 | Basic linguistic products such as phonetic spellcheckers were the first electronic handhelds to be brought to market . |
| 24 | I guess Jim meant that they were the first American string company to invent these strings . |
| 25 | These were the first contested presidential election since independence in 1960 . |
| 26 | A new literacy and cheap newsprint spawned the monster newspapers which were the first cultural artifact of mass society . |
| 27 | The 1965 changes were the first significant constitutional development since 1957 , in that they provided for a review of the purposes and activities of the Community , incorporating also a schedule for a single European Community by 1970 . |
| 28 | They were the first known tamers of animals . |
| 29 | The Spanish-American War of April-August 1898 , and the consequent Philippine Insurrection which officially ended in July 1902 , were the first overseas campaigns conducted by the US Army . |
| 30 | They were the first big fish I tried to catch when I decided to be more selective with my fishing , and when I did catch a big chub on my first attempt it set the scene for my present angling outlook . |