Example sentences of "[vb infin] been [adv] a [adj] " in BNC.

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1 Er you saw the er saw him five years ago in the navy , now it could 've been just a regular check which every seaman gets or it could be , it could 've been something of a serious nature .
2 Police think it could 've been just a dirty night out .
3 With his 29 runs at a vital stage of the Hampshire innings and three wickets for only 33 , Malcolm Marshall might have been both a logical and romantic choice for the Gold Award , but Micky Stewart gave it to Robin Smith , whose 90 was by far the highest and best innings of the match .
4 Now , if that were right , that is , here 's our bodily bit here , that 's what individuates them , right , Socrates is shorter than Plato , Plato is a bit taller than Socrates , Socrates has funny bulgy eyes , erm Plato must have been rather a normal looking person , a variety of things that differentiate them , but they 're not different in respect of being human beings .
5 Charles , then , was the second brother to be left a widower , after Thomas ; the domestic burden thus falling upon him and his remaining daughters must have been rather a daunting one , including the need to feed , control and educate young Ben , then only nine years old .
6 It would have been rather a dangerous step to take you know , to con even consider er that .
7 ‘ There must have been just a small problem of logistics .
8 They went in behind Sir George , who waved his huge cone of light around the dark , cramped , circular space , illuminating a semi-circular bay window , a roof carved with veined arches and mock-mediaeval ivy-leaves , felt-textured with dust , a box-bed with curtains still hanging , showing a dull red under their pall of particles , a fantastically carved black wooden desk , covered with beading and scrolls , and bunches of grapes and pomegranates and lilies , something that might have been either a low chair or a prie-dieu , heaps of cloth , an old trunk , two band boxes , a sudden row of staring tiny white faces , one , two , three , propped against a pillow .
9 the bypass that end of town would have been perhaps a little bit clearer .
10 This would have been quite a popular route .
11 Morse had never seen Mrs Marion Kemp , but from the marriage photograph that hung in the living room he realised that she must once have been quite a vivacious woman : dark , curly hair ; slim , firm figure ; and curiously impudent , puckish eyes .
12 It would have been quite a sexy story if it was true — lots of money involved .
13 ‘ It would presumably have been only a temporary interruption to your career , ’ he pointed out mercilessly .
14 As a secular leader , the king may have had charge of the army , although this may have been only a ceremonial role , since the tablets seem to tell us that there were generals .
15 Under Section 37 of Britain 's Mental Health Act , he would have been legally a free man if he had remained at large for another hour .
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