Example sentences of "[prep] [pron] could not have " in BNC.

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No Sentence
1 Last night the atmosphere between them could not have been more different .
2 About 1768 , while the boys were young , an incident occurred , the lasting consequences of which could not have been foreseen .
3 By re-amended notice of appeal dated 30 August 1991 the defendants sought an order to set aside or vary the judge 's order or to order a retrial and sought leave to adduce fresh evidence on the grounds , inter alia , ( 1 ) that the judge had erred in law in failing to take into account ( a ) the lack of a penal notice on the order which it was claimed that the appellants had breached ; and ( b ) the plaintiff 's delay of 18 months in applying for the committal order ; ( 2 ) that the judge 's decision was arrived at without regard to fresh evidence which the defendants had obtained since the hearing , part of which related to matters subsequent to the hearing and the remainder of which could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence ; which , if given , would probably have had an important influence on the result , which was credible and which should , therefore , be admitted ; ( 3 ) that , alternatively , the court should exercise its discretion to admit the fresh evidence as the liberty of the defendants was at risk ; and ( 4 ) that the sentence imposed was excessive .
4 The man sitting before me could not have forgotten that ; he just chose to ignore it .
5 The major innovations and discoveries of the 20th century such as transistors , penicillin or nuclear power could not have been predicted before their time nor do their stories have much in common except the the research which led to them could not have been directed towards their discovery .
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