Example sentences of "[pers pn] have been a [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | These conflicts have , of course , had diverse and individual causes , but common to them has been a change in the political environment in which public enterprises operate . |
| 2 | Key among them has been a failure in the UK to build appropriate or adequate bridges between business , the universities , and other sources of innovation like the national laboratories . |
| 3 | Alas , they were not safe , and what happened to them has been a matter of considerable argument . |
| 4 | But I realised I 'd been a bit heavy . |
| 5 | ‘ Educationally and professionally , I 'd been a bit of a prodigy — always the youngest in my league . |
| 6 | I 'd been a bit dithery for a few days , sort of clumsy and absentminded , as you often get when you 're feeling under the weather . |
| 7 | I thought that maybe I 'd been a bit harsh last night . ’ |
| 8 | In answer to Merrill 's questioning face , he went on , ‘ I think I once told you that I 'd been a bit — wild . |
| 9 | ‘ If only I 'd been a bit more sophisticated when we first got married . ’ |
| 10 | Ever since I 'd been a youngster , watching and playing football , Hibs have held an important place in the game . |
| 11 | My mother thought if I 'd been a boy Dad would have lived with us and been grand , or at least people would have noticed us . |
| 12 | But it 's kind of a shame , because I 'm only one element of blackness that you can see on television , and I 'll tell you , if I 'd been a kid and seen someone like me on telly , I 'd be a hell of a lot happier about the way I am in this world . ’ |
| 13 | At Old Street , I passed the Gym ‘ n ’ Tonic health club — I 'd been a member there until an embarrassing incident one evening in the female jacuzzi — then turned up towards Islington proper . |
| 14 | If I 'd been a union member I might have held out for a better offer or some redundancy money , but I was n't , so that was that . |
| 15 | I would n't have got to wear this if I 'd been a factory worker . ’ |
| 16 | ‘ I 'd been a partner for 10 years , I was 43 and could see another 17 years of PW partnership ahead of me . |
| 17 | I might hope to be a better grandfather than I 'd been a father . ’ |
| 18 | ‘ I suppose I could have got action like that if I 'd been a count , ’ she mused . |
| 19 | So he called me up and asked me if I wanted to play it , which was incredibly flattering because I 'd been a fan of his for such a long time . |
| 20 | I just wish I had been a man , that 's all . |
| 21 | Last time I had been a fool enough to close French doors and knew they were there only frantic moments later , when I saw blood spatter my wrists and hands , like a fly buzzing , like a bird beating against the see-through reality . |
| 22 | I explained that I had not entered at the right time because I had been a hostage in Iraq . |
| 23 | And I knew I had been a child when I first came to live with him . |
| 24 | He had been curled up there , dead in his basket , since I had been a child in a velvet-collared coat . |
| 25 | I think it was his fourth , but as I had been a child during this proliferation of fiancées I was n't certain . |
| 26 | Mr Singh , a Kenyan Asian , confessed to me , after I had been a friend of the family for several years , that he was neither fluent in Swahili , the language of his education up to 13 , nor in Punjabi , his mother tongue . |
| 27 | I had been a gang leader in Harehills — first administering the lives of younger children , then by brass , bossiness and imagination extending judgement even over older boys . |
| 28 | In the early days I had been a bit disappointed that the NUJ had n't immediately leapt to John 's defence , but ever since I had first been to see the General Secretary , Harry Conroy , and his assistant , Tom Nash , the union had done what it could to respond to what was asked of them . |
| 29 | I had been a vessel of pure water and I had been spilled . |
| 30 | If I had been a marquis , I felt , I would still have been in bed or perhaps just parting the curtains and peering out to see what kind of day it was But Lord Hulton worked all the time , just about as hard as any of his men . |