Example sentences of "not [vb infin] [been] a [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | But it was thirty-one years later and recent scholarship has questioned whether the anecdote might not have been a retrospective invention . |
| 2 | Certainly it would not have been a respectable person , such as Hilbert 's gardener or cleaner , but most likely some unemployed derelict Adam had met in a pub . |
| 3 | This could not have been a simple financial investment , as the Grand Junction had manifestly no prospect of making any profit ; although its paid up capital was £420,000 , it was sold in 1894 for £6,500 . |
| 4 | Here , this view becomes converted into the argument that the refusal of treatment may not have been a rational decision or may not appear to others to have been so . |
| 5 | Certainly it would not have been a viable proposition if it had run into serious trouble within a year or so of its launch . |
| 6 | But although ‘ Tuxy ’ Girdle may not have been a youthful Hooligan , it did emerge that he had been running whores and he received a substantial sentence of penal servitude for the assault on the man whom the gang had suspected of being a police spy . |
| 7 | It is important to remember , though , that the production need not have been a full-time or permanent occupation , nor necessarily an urban-based activity , as the much wider pattern of small- and large-scale production demonstrates . |
| 8 | ‘ From a planning point of view it would not have been a major worry , although only the force staging the original tie could police the second replay because all the liaison work for the first match would have been done . |
| 9 | There is the possibility of some influence from craftsmen working to the south , around Water Newton , who specialised in the manufacture of geometric designs , but their work was based largely upon lozenge configurations and can not have been a major source of inspiration . |
| 10 | But I do not mean to suggest either , he wrote , that it was all waiting and no doing , all sitting and no action , for though it was impossible to tell when the beginning would come , indeed , he wrote , there could not have been a real beginning if it had been possible to tell , for if it had been possible to tell that would have meant that there had already been a beginning , no , wrote Harsnet ( typed Goldberg ) , occasionally things were done , work was begun , though it was soon abandoned , it added up to nothing , it only showed me that I had been mistaken in thinking that I had indeed started . |
| 11 | The main room or ‘ house ’ , where the family gathered and worked and where the fire never went out , would not have been a suitable place for storage . |
| 12 | For all his undoubted talent Grayson may not have been a budding Ian Rush but he turned out for one of the country 's most famous clubs , perhaps not the best but certainly one of the best known — Accrington Stanley . |
| 13 | By this time Long would not have been a possible leader , and so the third contender of 1911 alone remained : Austen Chamberlain . |
| 14 | Although obvious , this would not have been a fruitful question to ask , because there was no way in which it could be answered . |
| 15 | Both Fanny and Henry enjoy literature so therefore we can predict that a marriage between them would not have been a total disaster . |
| 16 | ON THE eve of polling day the Prime Minister was asked whether , on reflection , it would not have been a good idea for him to have debated with Mr Kinnock on television . |
| 17 | ‘ But it would not have been a good cosmetic result . |
| 18 | ‘ But it would not have been a good cosmetic result . |
| 19 | Whether his survival was that of a cynical trimmer or one who had a paramount belief in the idea of the royal supremacy is impossible to determine , but he can not have been a good parochial pastor because of his persistent plurality . |
| 20 | The ‘ impressive and general ’ wording of Article 23 was seen as demonstrating that the Convention would not have been a proper vehicle for a treaty which would have done the barely conceivable by giving other countries control over American litigation . |
| 21 | That might not have been a wrong number . |
| 22 | Some might think a little delayed public spending on roads would not have been a bad idea at that time . |
| 23 | On the other hand , if ATP wanted to demonstrate that they really are interested in the welfare of more than just the top 75 , as some of their lower-ranked members have recently suggested , then helping Birmingham through its current difficulties , which one hopes are only temporary , would not have been a bad thing . |
| 24 | I would n't say there was much between the two teams apart from the first half here this afternoon when United , I have n't seen United dominate a side so much for a very long time , and really , I mean you were here Peter , three or four nil at half time would not have been a bad reflection on United 's performance in any way at all . |
| 25 | Now , Muze magazine may not have been a high profile organisation but it did provide a much needed platform for the flourishing Manchester rock scene . |
| 26 | With a more interfering Prime Minister and a more suspicious Foreign Secretary it would not have been a happy arrangement . |
| 27 | The intention may not have been a scorched earth policy , but the effect on some departments was the same . |
| 28 | In editorial and descriptive commentary , there are many comments about chaotic or ‘ lawless ’ spellings ( for example , Sisam , 1915 : xxxvii ) and even editorial judgements to the effect that a given scribe could not have been a native English speaker , so variable is his spelling ( Hall , 1920 II : 637 ) . |
| 29 | Thus , it conflates the Nemean Lion with the capture of the Keryneian Hind , on which this stance is used , and would not have been a reliable guide for any copyist . |
| 30 | The struggle can not have been a unique one . |