Example sentences of "had been [to-vb] a [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Her earlier fears had faded and she thought how foolish she had been to let a ridiculous fancy disturb her happiness . |
| 2 | Some believed indeed that the original intention of Soviet Mediterranean deployments had been to induce a negotiated withdrawal of the United States ' Sixth Fleet . |
| 3 | As Bishop Brinton said , it had been to restore a rightful heir to his kingdom and to defeat tyranny that the campaign in northern Spain had been fought in 1367 . |
| 4 | Principally the visit had been to see a senior boy with lifelong problems who had suddenly become unmanageable and would have to be admitted to an asylum , but while there he had been asked to assess Anna Beckett , a child who had moved him strangely . |
| 5 | One of his ideas had been to take a small naval party with him who would attempt to scuttle a ship in the harbour mouth . |
| 6 | The initial aim in forming the DUP had been to create a united unionist party which would be as orthodox in its constitutional position as the Unionist Party of Craig and Brookeborough . |
| 7 | The king 's original intention , goaded by the Pope 's refusal to grant him a divorce , had been to effect a greater lay control of an uncertain church . |
| 8 | There was , however , this to be said : there had been political involvement under Miall in the 1840s but this had been to achieve a narrow , sectarian goal — disestablishment . |
| 9 | And Jonathan would never have recognised her as the girl to whom he had become engaged , the easygoing girl whose only concern had been to have a good time , however much money it took . |