Example sentences of "[was/were] [verb] [pn reflx] [prep] a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | To the rapid , repetitive beat two glistening bodies were contorting themselves into an impossible position , their backs horizontal to the floor and no more than a foot from it . |
| 2 | Many of the instrumental numbers were so relaxed , they looked like they were amusing themselves at a family party and when Harry told everyone to stand up as he bopped around the stage in his black silk suit , everyone did as they were told . |
| 3 | With their assistance , gears and warped carburettor components and portions of armour major and minor were assembling themselves into an enormous baroque weapon . |
| 4 | She had stayed there , always conscious that she was preparing herself for an existence of unutterable boredom , and was one of an enormous number of women who were training themselves for an ‘ if I do n't marry ’ life . |
| 5 | what instructions had been given to the architects as to the ground they were to cover ; how far Parliament would be bound by the decision of the Commission [ of Judges ] ; and how we were to guard ourselves against an expenditure which we had been told by high authority would amount to not much less than £5,000,000 or £6,000,000 … |
| 6 | However , if you were to help yourself to a reasonably generous helping of watercress as part of a salad meal , it is unlikely that your portion would weigh more than half an ounce . |
| 7 | In effect the Berlin banks who loaned money to the Junkers were paying themselves through an agricultural clearing house in East Prussia . |
| 8 | You were getting yourself into a whole load of trouble , Fran , and I needed to ensure that there would be someone around to look after you when I could n't be . |
| 9 | A more serious problem was what to do with the soldiers who , now accustomed to fighting and to war 's many attractions , were finding themselves without an occupation . |
| 10 | The Smiths were priming themselves for a spell in the top five . |
| 11 | Meanwhile , the Chancellor was bracing himself for a furious political storm when he unveils his autumn package on Thursday , including a mystery ‘ fiscal package ’ ministers are remaining tight-lipped about . |
| 12 | The city was bracing itself for a party to beat them all , but the Spaniards decided to re-write the script . |
| 13 | Erm and really the only way I thought that I could prevent myself from doing anything like that was to kill myself in a very violent way because I |
| 14 | If so , it would be wrong that the council , because it has performed its statutory duty under the national law to enforce section 47 , was to find itself under a liability in damages as a result of performing that duty . |
| 15 | One client referred for counselling eventually admitted that she was starving herself as a way of preventing conception ; she did not want another child , but her husband had pressurised her to become pregnant . |
| 16 | Surely he must have realised that he was pitting himself against a concern of considerable strength . |
| 17 | A sob , swiftly repressed , rose in her throat ; she was condemning herself to a life as lonely as the seagull 's looked , but it , at least , could find a mate — she would never be able to do that . |
| 18 | It occurred to Cassie that he was keeping himself under an unnatural control , like a muzzled animal . |
| 19 | The lecherous Cohn once used his intercom to address an embarrassed starlet when he asked her if she was keeping herself in a state of sexual readiness for him . |
| 20 | He decided that the only way to avoid spending the rest of his life in the workhouse was to exhibit himself as a freak , and so he offered himself to Sam Torr , who ran a music-hall , the Gaiety Palace of Varieties . |
| 21 | He raised his wings and pulled them back a little , bent his head forward , slightly opened his beak , and lunged forward and down at the white flesh of the hand that was pushing itself with a piece of sandwich through the front bars of his cage . |
| 22 | This man was lodging himself like an irritating burr under her skin . |
| 23 | Essentially he was establishing himself as a figure of imperial stature , as his gold coinage reveals . |
| 24 | The third case resulted from the willingness and need of the firm to take work from any source while it was establishing itself in a new market . |
| 25 | So he resorted to an old favourite , which was to imagine himself as a First World War fighter ace engaged in an aerial duel with an enemy pilot . |
| 26 | She probably imagined she was comporting herself in an attractively provocative and feminine fashion , thought Lydia , sneering and lengthening her stride . |
| 27 | He needed , essentially , to become a Freeman of the City of London — and the most direct route for him , considering he had served no appropriate apprenticeship , was to buy himself into a livery company first . |
| 28 | ‘ The first time I met Samantha , ’ Bob says , ‘ I 'll never forget this , she was surrounded by these six guys and she was funking herself with a vibrator . |
| 29 | Two young women were in the room ; one was reading a magazine , the other was stuffing herself into a tight corset of black vinyl that appeared to be a part of a stylised nun 's costume . |
| 30 | Instead I was getting myself into an increasingly confrontational situation , a battle of wills , with the Director of Coaching . |