Example sentences of "[vb past] all been a [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | On some mornings the ducks on Three Island Pond would take off in great arcing flights against the sun , round and behind the Cages and out of sight , round again and behind the distant trees and then suddenly back again as if it had all been a mistake and they had never meant to fly off in the first place . |
| 2 | She had been convinced at first that it had all been a mistake , that she had indeed misread the unspoken message contained in the postcard . |
| 3 | Surely they realised that it had all been a mistake once you explained ? ’ |
| 4 | And then I made a mistake , I felt it had all been a sacrifice in vain , I felt I had to make him appreciate what I 'd done , that he ought to let me go — so I tried to tell him . |
| 5 | But it had all been a trick , a dreadful trick . |
| 6 | It had all been a trick , all that sweet , hot loving , that tenderness , just a cruel device to help him find out what she knew . |
| 7 | But it had all been a bluff . |
| 8 | Within Dotty 's hearing a home pirate remarked that he thought it had all been a storm in a teacup . |
| 9 | Drugged again , they regained consciousness outside the valley in anguish that it had all been a dream . |
| 10 | It had all been a dream ; perhaps she 'd never even left it . |
| 11 | Perhaps it had all been a dream . |
| 12 | But it had all been a sham . |
| 13 | Now he saw it had all been a sham . |
| 14 | He would come exuberantly into the office after ops with his crew tagging along behind him , to tell us that our weather forecast had been spot on , it had all been a piece of cake , bombs went down — Wham ! — right on the target , no trouble at all , good show ! , and here they were back on the old tarmac , cheating death again , etc . |
| 15 | After so long thinking that the reason for our kidnap had been bad feeling between Britain and Iran , and knowing that , before the Rushdie affair at least , fences had been mended , it was hard to believe now that it had all been a mirage . |