Example sentences of "were [pron] [prep] [art] " in BNC.

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1 And so the words turned back on themselves , phrases reappeared , seeming to confirm other phrases , merely repeating themselves , clicking into place with a semblance of logic which nicely disguised the truth that all these words were nothing but a glittering fabric which hovered above the ground , unwinding endlessly , slipping between the fingers , beguiling like a mirage , taking on whatever shape the conjuror wanted , and leading nowhere .
2 Seen through the disapproving eyes of respectable citizens they were nothing but a disorderly and disorganized rabble , dropouts from the social ladder .
3 I had a glimpse of a fair-haired girl staring wide-eyed and terrified from a tennis court , her racket held loose by her side and tennis balls scattered at her feet and , though the trees and buildings and gardens were nothing but a high-speed blur , my mind nevertheless registered with a startling clarity that the girl had been completely naked .
4 ‘ I knew as soon as I saw you that you were nothing but a piece of filth !
5 It was possible that these men were nothing but a strong feint designed to draw the allies towards Charleroi while the real French thrust , fuelled by the Emperor 's presence , attacked twenty-five miles to the west at Mons.
6 The natives were treacherous people , as everyone knew , ungodly and faithless , and their early shows of friendship were nothing but a ruse to lull the pioneers into a false feeling of security , so that they could ensnare them in their false enchantments , pounce on them unawares and kill them while they slept .
7 A SELF-STYLED showbiz entrepre-neur 's widely-publicised claims for a brand-new TV soap to rival Coronation Street and EastEnders were nothing but a load of froth .
8 People were impostors and children were nothing but the promise of broken bones .
9 Indeed , one had only to go to Rhodesia to see the ample supply of consumer goods in the shops from every part of the world to realise that sanctions were nothing but an empty farce , and that the claim that they were going to bring Mr Ian Smith to his knees was a total fraud .
10 they were nothing but an excuse for idleness ; twelve hours being too many for a man to work underground without intermission .
11 ‘ I told 'em — -them — you were nothing of the kind .
12 The Report criticised the crew of the Croydon for not doing more to rectify the compass problems which they had experienced and for relying too heavily on D/F bearings , but it implied that the Darwin W/T station should not have stated the bearings of ‘ night error ’ , they should have known they were nothing of the sort .
13 Were nothing to the upset
14 The nerves on the first night at Taunton had been bad ; so had the understudy nerves of the first night at the Variety ; but they were nothing to the sheer blind terror that attended Charles Paris as he waited to go on stage in the role in which Michael Banks 's career had been so tragically cut short the night before .
15 In 1924 , the All Blacks undertook internal matches against Auckland and Manawatu as preparation for a European tour and promptly lost 14-3 to Auckland , who in those days were nothing like the force they are now .
16 Allan Lamb took over the captaincy and did his best , but it soon became clear that without Gooch they were nothing like the same team .
17 Even the early varieties developed in the time of Browning and Tennyson were nothing like the splendours of today , and one wonders what the genius of their poetic expressions would have made of the ethereal glow in the half light of ‘ Super Star ’ ( see page 129 ) , the exquisite shape and deepest of all crimson-black red of ‘ Charles Mallerin ’ or a hundred and one other modern marvels .
18 Were nothing like the real thing
19 And then he felt as if there were someone nearby , as if there were someone on the summit waiting , waiting to greet him .
20 In drama we act as if we were someone else , or as if we were ourselves in an other situation .
21 There were plenty in the Store .
22 Were ye in a fight ? ’
23 On these walls were none of the usual posters bidding young mothers to drink milk in pregnancy and bring their toddlers for a twice-yearly check-up .
24 Here there were none of the accustomed party cant or heroics about the Revolution .
25 Adrar was clean , and there were none of the African smells offensive to western noses — just the opposite .
26 The permanent staff was gradually purged to other camps until there were none of the original ‘ old people ’ left .
27 There were none of the crowds that had been there during the day and we could really pray .
28 Moreover , the papers were run as political ventures ; there were none of the commercial , management , planning and sales activities that were to be found at the Standard .
29 There were none of the demonstrations or obstructions which he had feared , and in fact such was the success of the play that he was featured on the cover of Time magazine on 6 March .
30 This was another of those naked spaces , so exposed it was useless — putting a chair out there to sit in the sun seemed unthinkable , there were none of the nooks and crannies or spaces that invited use .
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