Example sentences of "[was/were] [pron] not for a " in BNC.
Next pageNo | Sentence |
---|---|
1 | The top is not visible from the road , and were it not for a sizeable cairn you could miss it altogether . |
2 | He admired gnarled oak , beeches and silver birch , but occasionally he complained bitterly about bad planting , as when looking towards Langdale from near Tilberthwaite : ‘ Langdale on the right would finish the whole into a pleasant landscape , were it not for a frightful plantation of firs blotting out the pass on Wrynose . ’ |
3 | This unusual system would give the scallop superb eyesight , were it not for a design fault . |
4 | He could , Dalgliesh thought , have been judged an outstandingly handsome man were it not for a certain incongruity of feature , perhaps the contrast between the fineness of the skin stretched over the flat cheekbones and the strong jutting jaw and uncompromising mouth . |
5 | Were it not for a severe epidemic of puerperal fever ( ‘ childbed fever ’ ) in Aberdeen , which lasted from December 1789 to March 1792 , Gordon might well have been forgotten . |
6 | This ill-informed comment might be laughed off were it not for a threat , prominently reported in the national press , that the Moi University medical students might not be eligible for full registration upon qualification because of their ‘ sub-standard ’ education . |