Example sentences of "not [verb] [prep] first " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | She did not answer at first but moved or turned . |
| 2 | She frowned , not understanding at first , then felt a faint flush steal into her cheeks as his meaning became clear . |
| 3 | erm In fact a simple formulation of this problem occurs in the opening paragraphs of À la Recherche , erm when the narrator writes this : ‘ When I woke in the middle of the night , I could not tell where I was , just as I did not know at first who I was . |
| 4 | When Belegar arrived he watched the Dwarfs rebuild their citadel but did not attack at first . |
| 5 | The plants lumped together under the umbrella name of herbs do not appear at first glance to be essential to maintain life , but it is now becoming apparent that this concept could be wrong , and that herbs are as necessary as oxygen , though the ingredients they contribute , such as minerals and vitamins , may only be found in minute quantities . |
| 6 | For instance , Hamlet 's relationship and subsequent behaviour towards Ophelia may not appear at first closely connected with Hamlet 's plan of murder . |
| 7 | Although data does not appear at first sight to be a resource of the organisation , it certainly is a resource , as data is essential for the organisation to operate effectively . |
| 8 | Secondly , you will best get there by squeezing all you can out of every position you hold and out of the experience of every man you serve or meet : pick their brains , study their successes and their failures ; never be afraid to ask questions or put new ideas , but do not get upset or angry if they are not accepted at first , and do not assume that the other man 's judgment is wrong . |
| 9 | Deep trying if you do not succeed at first , and then they will eventually come out . |
| 10 | They set off , but the Friar did not understand at first whom they were following ; it was as though he believed that the children had taken his sack . |
| 11 | This will not work in first low , but there should be ample engine braking in this gear for steep descents unless one of the clutches in the gearbox is faulty . |
| 12 | After the given date , the same change may well have diffused to other dialects that were not affected at first , and Labov 's well-known work ( for example , 1980 ) on short /a/ in the northern United States suggests that this EModE change is still in progress there today . |
| 13 | The car occupants did not move at first , a rising condensation choked the dying ventilation , the inside of the windscreen visibly clouded to reveal nothing more than a general silhouette of the two figures in the front seat deliberating their actions . |
| 14 | In his younger , more confident days he could quip that ‘ formalism is the name given to music not understood on first hearing ’ ; but by 1948 he was less resilient , and the situation more threatening . |
| 15 | Usually , the hard currency exchanged by foreign investors to pay wages , salaries and utility and other costs , has a significance in Second and Third World countries that it does not have in First World countries . |
| 16 | If the litigant was not assisted at first instance , or before one of the appellate tribunals , a full application for a legal aid certificate must be made . |
| 17 | Buckingham did not realise at first that he had been the only one to get over the 23rd fence at the first attempt . |
| 18 | Furthermore , Regan 's incompetent researchers ought not to get to first base , at least under present UK regulations , for they would have been required to state objectives , if only of an ‘ advancement of knowledge ’ , which the assessors would judge to be significant enough to outweigh any proposed harm ( under 5.4 ) to the animals at risk . |
| 19 | It was not love at first sight , but between the speaker and this member of his audience there developed a rapport that was fascination on her side and intense curiosity on his . |
| 20 | The day after the declaration , which did not seem at first to be being taken seriously in Washington , Gen Noriega 's troops escalated the crisis into a confrontation . |
| 21 | It was almost as though such an experience gave the initiated a glimpse of a deeper level of reality than the allegedly shallow analysis of contemporary society by those who had not faced at first hand the traumas of modern warfare . |
| 22 | So deeply and dreamlessly that when she woke she could n't think at first where she was ; nor place the strange noise at the back of her head . |
| 23 | He did n't answer at first . |
| 24 | He did n't answer at first , then asked where we 'd be staying . |
| 25 | He did n't answer at first and there was something about the quality of his silence that caused a flicker of fear to touch her heart . |
| 26 | I look out into the darkness , but my eyes do n't focus at first , as they are so fresh from sleep . |
| 27 | He is very clever in the manner in which he links all the characters together , and although we do n't know at first how relationships and meetings will turn out , it does soon become apparent . |
| 28 | When he returned to the office on Monday Barnett called Tim into the office , an odd note in his voice which Tim did n't recognise at first . |
| 29 | Do n't cheat by first allowing your body to droop and then jerking your backside into the air . |
| 30 | It does n't matter that the guitar was second-hand ; the law talks about contracts for the sale of goods , and does n't refer to first , second , third or even fourth hand . |