Example sentences of "[was/were] not [prep] [art] [noun] " in BNC.

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1 The new men of the Kremlin were not above the simplicity of taking a former idea and adapting it to their needs .
2 Those of them which were not about the Englishman 's standard of living ( no peasant wooden shoes and no Irish potatoes ) were shared by many of the " middling people " ; these were the issues and they were more important than any lingering popular Jacobitism , although that sentiment certainly existed .
3 A pity , in a way , that the dancing would be merely metaphorical : this was a house large enough to accommodate dancing , but their friends were not of the dancing classes , would gaze in astonishment , alarm , sophisticated horror , intellectual condemnation , at dancing in a private house … another year , perhaps , for the dancing .
4 He would have been happier with a committee , but the owners , of whom several rented rather than owned their boats , were not of the substance from which committees are formed .
5 There must be equality of rights for all citizens regardless of nationality ; and there could be no excuse for discrimination against any of them , nor for ‘ extremist gatherings ’ which had terrorised local people who were not of the majority affiliation .
6 But I think it 's fair to say that the changes in the n nine , early nineteen eighties particularly those which gave the unions a predominant position in choosing the leader , were not of the unions ' making , certainly not of the G M B's making , as I know from personal experience at the time .
7 It is not quite clear what he meant by this ; the point may well be not that the new kings — Eardwulf in Northumbria , and Coenwulf in Mercia — were of non-royal stock but that they were not of the lineage , respectively , of Aethelred and Offa — but it could easily be construed as a slur .
8 A similar distinction lies at the base of J. R. Walsh 's treatment of the muftis : doubtless writing about a period later than that under consideration in the present study , he states , in regard to what Hezarfen would call the that aside from the occasional retired kadi or " a member of one of the local learned families in the larger cities , … the were not of the class " .
9 Perhaps the jeweller she kept house for could read , but the things Sarah wanted to say were not for a stranger 's eyes .
10 The foregoing would , of course , mean that property rights were not for the dispensation of some imagined ‘ god ’ of early superstitious religion , but existed by virtue of the fact that human beings have , in the course of time , generally agreed that such a right was ‘ good ’ , for the reason that without it there could be no peaceful existence and no contentment .
11 The Rev Aaron Longwe , who has been detained and tortured by the regime for speaking out about corruption , told a gathering of former missionaries at the Kirk 's headquarters in Edinburgh : ‘ If it were not for the Church of Scotland some of us would have been dead by now . ’
12 Well , Mrs. Jewkes , if it were not for the thought of that cursed parson I believe in my heart , so great is my weakness , that I could yet forgive this intriguing little slut and take her to my bosom .
13 If it were not for the possibility of physical delivery of the underlying cash market good by the seller of the futures contract to the buyer , there would be no mechanism to guarantee convergence of futures and spot prices .
14 The theatre was not something of which her parents would have approved , such frivolous pleasures were not for the likes of hard-working shoemakers .
15 There was even talk , Frank 's idea , of going to Ireland ( European tours , filling me with excitement at the very thought , were not for the likes of us ) .
16 ‘ requiring a seat belt ’ Means per regulation 6 of the Motor Vehicles ( wearing of Seat Belts ) Regulation 1982 : ‘ The classes of vehicle mentioned in regulation 4 are ( a ) a vehicle to which Regulation 46 of the Construction and Use Regulations applies ( see later ) ; and ( b ) a vehicle which is equipped with anchorage points and seat belts and to which that Regulation would apply if it were not for the circumstances that the vehicle —
17 If it were not for the scenes written after his marriage , The Elder Statesman would have been by far the grimmest play he had ever written .
18 He also remarked , significantly : If it were not for the Union , I venture to think that women would be all over the London trade .
19 Any cheers that met his statement — which was not heard in silence — were not for the General-Secretary but for his concessions .
20 Ironically , the Great War would not have been the war that it was if it were not for the machine .
21 If it were not for the fact that he was one of the favourites you 'd have been delighted but as a Gold Cup winner I had to feel a bit disappointed .
22 This would be a useful feature if it were not for the fact that a certain amount of vaginal discharge is perfectly normal and natural for a woman in her reproductive years ; and what is more , this natural discharge is subject to a fair amount of variation depending on the stage of the menstrual cycle .
23 This would not matter very much ( for it would always be possible for individual candidates to prove the expectation wrong ) , if it were not for the fact that whole papers in the final examination , or certain questions on papers , are to be ‘ differentiated ’ .
24 But why ( if it were not for the fact that one is a Christian ) should one be wanting to stay with the experience of women within the biblical tradition ?
25 He did not enjoy such visits now , and would have been tempted to abandon them if it were not for the fact that people might gossip .
26 Yet if it were not for the eclipses of May , June and November , Pisceans might think they could get off comparatively lightly .
27 From what has been said above , it will be clear that the Oxford English Dictionary Department would not be what it is , if it were not for the Supplement project lying at the heart of its work .
28 He would have laughed if it were not for the echo of the screaming in his head .
29 The clumsiness is evident in the standard of ‘ the reasonable man ’ , an anthropomorphic ( and male ) standard which might be taken to suggest a paragon of virtue if it were not for the context of partially exculpating a killing by such a person .
30 It would be idle to speculate on what the figures might have been if it were not for the security situation .
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