Example sentences of "could [not/n't] [verb] [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Those who could not leave work in time could catch the 19:46 and we would all travel back together . |
| 2 | Once she was there it would require a tremendous effort of will to get her back to London — except that she could not leave Holly in charge for more than a day ; and except that she was avid for information about the murder inquiry ; and except that there were any number of good stories she wanted to pursue for the column and any amount of private gossip she wanted to hear . |
| 3 | The family could not speak English and my schoolboy French was almost exhausted so I bade them good afternoon but managed to make them understand that I would have dinner with them one evening soon — ‘ An English dinner . ’ |
| 4 | But what of foreigners who could not speak English ? |
| 5 | One may be amused — though not very — that after living in Italy for forty-five years Max still could not speak Italian , but such insularity is not to be imitated . |
| 6 | Skip could not speak Russian and only a few crew members could speak limited English . |
| 7 | She could not speak French , she was quite weak and , worse still , she was a woman . |
| 8 | They could not go side by side . |
| 9 | The mass of politically independent States were economically dependent on the world economy , for parliaments could not tame capital : |
| 10 | He was troubled , I could see , because , being unable to share these memories , he could not disentangle truth from fiction or creative embellishment from accurate detail . |
| 11 | Then I remembered someone who could : the person could not stand cash , but was maybe prepared to put something up of the value of £500 . |
| 12 | The relatively liberal de Graaff had been replaced as Governor-General by de Jonge , a hardliner ( it was he who pronounced that Dutch rule would continue for another 300 years ) , and the Colonial Minister was H. Colijn , whose notorious book , Colonial Problems of Today and Tomorrow ( 1928 ) , had declared that the Indonesians could not expect self-government ‘ in the humanly foreseeable future ’ : indeed , he dismissed the notion that there was any Indonesia : ‘ The islands … are a unity for the reason that they compose the Netherlands Indies and for that reason alone . ’ |
| 13 | As a well-known republican who had twice taken arms against Britain he could not expect clemency , and he was shot by a firing squad in Kilmainham gaol 5 May 1916 . |
| 14 | Morgenthau could not rest content with defining power in a way consistent with the rest of his theory , because the theory needed anchoring by means of an objective definition of its key concepts . |
| 15 | The child could not decide whever he wanted a chocolate bar or a scoop of ice cream : it occurred to Nelson to combine the two . |
| 16 | General Westmoreland might successfully call for reinforcements , until there were 510 000 American combat troops in Vietnam , with 50000 South Koreans and smaller contingents from the Philippines , Australia and New Zealand : they could not secure victory . |
| 17 | He added that Russia could not secure control of the air . |
| 18 | At this time when women could not hold property after they married , typically daughters were left trust funds which would provide them with an income , while sons received land , property and liquid assets ( Davidoff and Hall , 1987 , pp. 205–7 ) . |
| 19 | these would soon be extinct if zoos could not offer protection to animals in the same situation . |
| 20 | She could not offer advice as a grandmother , despite her long experience of children ; and now her own children had ceased to confide in her ‘ because they felt that the time had come when I ought to be ‘ spared ’ every possible worry . |
| 21 | A judge said it would be a ‘ bit bleak ’ if the authorities could not stop pornography coming into the country but agreed there was an arguable case for judicial review . |
| 22 | Within a couple of days of taking this , she began to weep , and she then became very concerned because she just could not stop crying . |
| 23 | I could not stop crying . ’ |
| 24 | Then I wished I had asked him to walk with me to the coach , and I could not stop crying . |
| 25 | She could not stop crying . |
| 26 | INVINCIBLE : Parkinson 's Disease could not stop soccer star Chris Garland from walking 130 miles with Botham |
| 27 | Almost two centuries later it was being proposed that in much the same way every Spanish ambassador should have assigned to him a son or younger brother " to assist him as a comrade in his work " , be instructed in the conduct of embassy business and handle matters the ambassador himself could not spare time for , with the implication that he might well succeed to the post if it fell vacant . |
| 28 | Sainsbury 's felt it could not justify investment at either of these locations and instead surprised everyone by buying land at Parc Menai which has already got planning consent for a hotel and conference centre . |
| 29 | And if he were propelled by such categorical imperative to fail , he could not reek loveableness out of every pore … |
| 30 | Airport security was largely superficial , and outdated equipment could not detect plastic explosives . |