Example sentences of "[noun] they [vb past] been [v-ing] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mordecai had said that he usually approached the shop through the bazaar , and that was the side they had been watching . |
| 2 | No one was jumping for joy because they 'd finally got the piece they 'd been searching for for years . |
| 3 | Once again there was a flurry of bodies from the doorway they had been defending and another charge . |
| 4 | Maybe this was the break they had been waiting for . |
| 5 | They carried away the bin of meat fragments they had been carrying . |
| 6 | For months they had been trying with divets and tackle to hoist the appropriate two-ton stone upright and into its hole . |
| 7 | Chris described to her in painstaking detail the story of the cartoon they 'd been watching . |
| 8 | Source C " The impression left on the minds of those who heard the speech , after the first sensations of surprise had passed , was that the whole thing had been arranged long before and that , while in the Cabinet and committee they had been making panic stricken efforts to balance the budget , the whole business had been a humbug and make-believe . " |
| 9 | All over Spain , rebel officers put into action the plan they had been elaborating since December of the previous year . |
| 10 | While at Croydon SSD , Ambache had to support his director in a battle with a while couple who wanted to adopt a black child they had been fostering . |
| 11 | One moment they had been crossing a burning glade of shoulder-high grass in the full glare of the sun and the next they descended abruptly into a dark , silent , mysterious world where the air was cool and moist , the earth soft and spongy underfoot , and dazzling orchids blazed suddenly among the deep green undergrowth . |
| 12 | Over the past few weeks they 'd been rubbing along fairly civilly , though not without the occasional spark flying between them . |
| 13 | There was restrained optimism among Wickham 's team that this could be the lead they had been waiting for . |
| 14 | They had been crossing a scree ; there had been many loose stones , and footing was difficult , but surely at that point they had been traversing a gentler slope , and her employer had actually been standing on a flattish stretch of granite when she had fallen . |
| 15 | ‘ The man , who was known to the police , was one of the knockers they 'd been keeping an eye on . |
| 16 | He had told Mr Gibson they had been walking past the barn and had gone in for shelter . |
| 17 | Later that evening they had been sitting in a restaurant and Maggie had looked at Tom and said , her delicate face and long neck almost visibly aquiver with pleasure , |
| 18 | Over his shoulder he saw the looming shape of Arthur Dooley , the main singer of the group they 'd been listening to . |
| 19 | Several analysts were confounded by the strong performance : only on Monday they had been muttering about how sustainable recent performance had been , and querying whether the share price had not run ahead of itself . |
| 20 | Lead miners in the northern Pennines were earning 10s ( 50p ) a week by 1797 and 11s 6d ( 57½p ) by 1815 , whereas before the war they had been earning 7s 6d ( 37½p ) ; a money-wage increase of around 50 per cent over the war years seems indicated , implying a real-wage fall of about 10 per cent . |
| 21 | Abie Klugman had long grown used to the taunt — it was Aronson 's stock joke for all of the ten years they had been lodging with Mrs Neumann , and he no longer minded it . |
| 22 | More distressingly , we discovered that the Aru islands and the Greater Bird of Paradise were no longer on their trading routes and that for the last twenty years they had been pursuing the shorter and more profitable triangular passage between Celebes , Java and Borneo . |
| 23 | In the two years they had been operating , Stephen had taught her never to lose her temper with the guests , however unreasonable , but to try to win them over . |
| 24 | Covertly , leaning far back in his chair , he watched McQuaid from under hooded eyelids : in all the years they had been coming together on Monaghan Day McQuaid had always spent the night in the house . |
| 25 | Like the GenSyn apes they had been experimenting upon . |
| 26 | She too , in spite of the dances and concerts they had been attending lately , knew far fewer people at the station than Rose . |
| 27 | For her parents Fran and Les , it was the day they had been waiting for . |
| 28 | ‘ All Friday night they 'd been showing Sheedy free kicks on the box . |
| 29 | The powerful midfielder , Mauro Silva , was the playmaker they had been looking to build the team around . |
| 30 | The scenery they 'd been flashing through was spectacular , endless coconut and banana palms , glimpses of white sand and water , fluttering green against deep blue and silver . |