Example sentences of "he [was/were] a [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | He would pop in and out of the office now and then , fulfilling his supervisory role and looking as if he were a man with an important but very secret mission . |
| 2 | One moment standing at Reception and then wafted , as if he were a feather fluttering , to the car on the kerb . |
| 3 | And er I remember one one chap he were a bit scared , very much so , and oh dear dear dear , he 'd only been within other bloke , a chap A chap from , what was his name now ? |
| 4 | And er he were a bit rough with them and all . |
| 5 | An' he were right , because he were a bit of a lad . ’ |
| 6 | When the castrato comes , I have to sing with him , for I have to teach him his whole part as if he were a child . |
| 7 | Engaged in drowning the woman , Fedorov had been slow to respond to the sudden turn in events , but now he recognized the danger and grabbed Lefevre 's sword , wresting it from his feeble grasp as if he were a child . |
| 8 | as if he were a child of five she had reprimanded him , saying , ‘ Do n't be so personal ; she is Miss Crosbie . |
| 9 | Urian cut him down as if he were a child . |
| 10 | She pulled him to her and held him as though he were a child , kissing away his frown . |
| 11 | And he were a taxi driver and he 'd got lost . |
| 12 | It was possible for a middle-class reader to sympathise with a girl , even if she were a countess , when she entered upon the search for an ancient royal treasure in a thoroughly youthful way , or with a boy who , even if he were a king or at the least a count in eclipse , faced danger and responsibility with the doubts and the dutiful idealism of a public-school upbringing . |
| 13 | ‘ He were a pilot , were n't he ? ’ she said . |
| 14 | ‘ You have an immense output , ’ Willoughby said severely to Emily a few weeks later , leaning over her desk as if he were a judge himself . |
| 15 | The court accepted that the minister would not be expected to hear such representations as if he were a judge . |
| 16 | It was as if he were a sheet of paper torn into many little pieces which she felt she had to cover entirely with her hand , but could not , however hard she tried , because the wind always blew a few of the pieces from between her fingers or from the edge of her palm . |
| 17 | Her arm was draped elegantly across his shoulders , and she was looking at him with eyes like headlights , as though she were starving and he were a cream cake . |
| 18 | ‘ Nonsense , Peter , ’ his wife pounced down on him as if he were a hound that had misbehaved . |
| 19 | You look in vain for answers , mind you , unless you 've ever wondered what Will Self would say to you if he were a taxi-driver . |
| 20 | Never expecting to meet him again , she had indulged all the week in fond dreams of him , as if he were a character in a journal story , but the reality was infinitely more exhilarating . |
| 21 | She had the most extraordinary longing to lay her head on his chest and lean on him as though he were a tree or something solid of that sort , to feel his arms close round her . |
| 22 | The photographer and author , Daniel Farson , recollects Minton surrounded by sailors and fussing over his latest infatuation as if he were a chorus girl , whilst simultaneously complaining , ‘ I 'm only liked because I 'm rich . |
| 23 | Nevertheless a member , even of a private company , unless he is also a director is not entitled , as he would be if he were a member of a partnership , to inspect the books and records of the company except to the extent that the Act specifically provides . |
| 24 | The governor gestured towards the Annamese as if he were a museum exhibit . |
| 25 | After this strange sensation he felt as if he were a snowman ‘ at last beginning to melt ’ . |
| 26 | How she had looked at him on their wedding day — as if he were a god ! |
| 27 | But I take my immediate clue from the American critic , Norman Holland : ‘ unity is to the text as identity is to a person ; or you could say , identity is the unity I find in a person when I look at him as if he were a text . ’ |
| 28 | He were a minister of the church . |
| 29 | He were a minister along of his delegation to Haiti . |
| 30 | In those days the fieldworker retained his status as a privileged stranger and proceeded to make a catalogue of ancient manners and customs much as if he were a policeman investigating a crime . |