Example sentences of "could [verb] be [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Claims that up to 30,000 jobs could disappear were rejected by a Post Office spokesman . |
| 2 | The extra speed and stride that the longer hind legs could attain was hampered by the slow speed of the shorter front ones . |
| 3 | The truckers ' strike during July and August 1973 was also largely motivated by controls — the shortages of spare parts for their trucks , official discrimination against them in favour of state-run firms , and the fact that the charges which they could make were fixed by the government but not adjusted to take into account the rapid rate of inflation . |
| 4 | The most useful contribution he could make was to turn up on the right day in the right uniform , cut ribbons , and make cosy speeches . |
| 5 | The number of sales the trader could make was limited to the number of cars he could get . |
| 6 | well it she could 've been done last year but we 've not done this year , be gone . |
| 7 | A little bit I think that he was just concerned that perhaps there might 've been other people who might 've wanted to come and if people had rung up and you had had a waiting list something could 've been done about it |
| 8 | Well why did n't they get a mile away from where they put that money they could 've , they could 've been planned it away , a mile away all |
| 9 | ‘ Probably because , in a crossfire , some of the family could 've been killed . ’ |
| 10 | Yeah , this drug could 've been developed and refined and er gone into a lot further , but they did n't . |
| 11 | Ah yes , well you see , you see , in effect if you called her an old , that could 've been , that , that , that , that , that , that , that could 've been eh , that could 've been eh , that could 've been , you know , you could 've been given her a , that could 've of been a praise , you old cow . |
| 12 | But I mean it could 've been made a bit bigger than that could n't it , for the seat |
| 13 | It could 've been abandoned , they could have moved on but maybe it was seen as a taboo place , we just do n't know . |
| 14 | ‘ You had them all the time — you trailed me round — you bloody filthy lying bastard — you poked my head into every shit-bin in Bristol — you led me up hill and down dale till my feet were dropping off — you made me steal some people 's boat — I could 've been got by the police — I might be festering in jail now — handcuffed — criminal — you do n't care , you 're criminal anyway — I would n't be surprised if you 'd murdered half a dozen innocent people and cut them up and kept their pieces stashed away in the hole where you 've been hiding my bag and my things and my money and my dreams … ’ |
| 15 | I do n't think he could 've been insured do you ? |
| 16 | The device could 've been planted as early as Saturday morning and police want to speak to anyone who went there from that time , to when the alarm was raised yesterday . |
| 17 | I know but you could 've been fetched from Grand Canaries . |
| 18 | On several occasions the ‘ correct ’ response was not the obvious one , so perhaps a wider variety of inputs could 've been catered for . |
| 19 | No it 's erm , on , on Monday , on Monday morning they could 've been working |
| 20 | It 's not very nice when you 're driving the vehicle and er I know you 're all experienced drivers and then you get somebody sitting there alongside you starting to look at you do , and I I you could 've been driving all your life but you still feel a bit edgy and a bit tense . |
| 21 | But they could 've been talking about something personal and we would 've heard everything they said . |
| 22 | Erm the issue is is that potentially you could be goi we could 've been going for four point three extra people and we probably wo n't do that . |
| 23 | she 's it could 've been saying |
| 24 | It has to be checked for any messages that could 've been left . ’ |
| 25 | yeah it could 've be done better |
| 26 | It was made the more difficult because the Iranians were at one remove from the hostage-takers ; even at best , all they could promise was to lean on Hizbollah and ask for a favour . |
| 27 | The host species on the other hand could survive being parasitised since only a small proportion suffer the attentions of the cuckoo , and most of these will breed again to produce their own offspring . |
| 28 | Yet only 9 per cent of women who could benefit are taking up the option . |
| 29 | Yet , for all the massive support on either side of him , all the elder Falkenhayn could achieve was to push the line up on to the north crest of the Mort Homme . |
| 30 | The joyful energy which women could generate was seen as dangerous , and the Christian church today is often equally suspicious of charismatic services . |