Example sentences of "could n't [adv] [vb infin] " in BNC.

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1 We — we just could n't not meet . ’
2 It pinned us down and made us feel that we could n't not go back without feeling terribly guilty .
3 Er , particularly since it was only half right , or you could n't exactly tell which half , not very clearly , so if it 's half by Freud , and er , it was a book erm , on erm , a controversial figure arguing over very controversial pieces , and I think the psychoanalytic study did n't want to have anything to do with it , and er , er , one of the reviews of the psychoanalytic journal that said that this is the kind of book that gets psychoanalysis a bad name .
4 Of course , Sar n't Major James Graham Biggleswade could n't exactly go back to Blighty and expect them to hang out the welcome mat in Fulham , not after that tricky bit of bloody buggering business down in the Falklands — oh , excuuuuse meeee , the Mal -bloody-buggering- vinas — back in ‘ 81 .
5 Mr Masters was quite clear that he had first seen the blue BMW late on the Saturday evening , ten days before , pointing out that , while you could n't exactly complain , it had made access to his own forecourt space a little difficult , or at least when there was already another car on the forecourt , which there mostly was , that being Mrs Masters 's runabout .
6 I could n't exactly see you two clicking .
7 I was busting and I was there going I said and I could n't exactly say can I go to the toilet ?
8 In the meantime , since she could n't physically throw him out , she would find somewhere else to stay for the night .
9 He might be amazingly good to look at , he might be brilliant company , he might possibly be an amazing lover , though she could n't truthfully testify to that in depth , but jokes and … and sex were n't everything .
10 In fact you could n't adequately express yourself in English you were just better to shut up .
11 could n't particularly blame a landlord for that .
12 She could n't even control her trembling limbs and chattering teeth .
13 I could n't always swi , I could n't even switch a light till
14 alright just shut up a minute , I 'm talking to ya , so she said afterwards oh I says that was good were n't it could n't even switch the machine on and she said it does n't matter does it , she said it 's not what happens its the way you deal with it , and I made a joke of it and I said to him oh this is good i n't it ? relax you 're in safe hands I ca n't even switch the machine on , but anyway I did it in the end and he was alright , and he said thank you very much , that was , you were very good , you were very kind , cos it is frightening and one thing I said to him do n't hold your breath , because people think when their having an E C G they 've got ta hold their breath for some reason , just lie there take a deep breath and do n't breathe again but you 've never had one so you would n't no , I 'm just going to mix this up
15 She could n't even feel a pulse when she laid two fingers beneath the angle of his jaw .
16 " When I holed the putt to win , I could n't even feel my hands .
17 She could n't even feel resentful that he slept so peacefully after she had suffered a sleepless night of angst .
18 She could n't even hope to keep that from him , since he 'd insisted she fax him details of the takings every week .
19 She was caught in the middle of a terrible ghastly nightmare , and one she could n't even hope to escape from by waking up .
20 He said they were so shocking he could n't even bear to repeat them . ’
21 So now he could n't even bear to be with her .
22 It now seemed that Rose could n't even bear to touch him .
23 The ground pigeons will laugh themselves sick when I tell them you could n't even break your own bones — you 've broken enough of theirs ! "
24 Nothing mattered except protecting her sister 's identity , and she could n't even do that .
25 He could n't even do your
26 Well you could have stuck , you know , seven or eight years of age you could n't even do it then in case it hurt the kid 's mother or something like that , or whatever it was .
27 We would n't see it coming , we could n't shoot it down when we did and we could n't even chase the fucking thing home after it had hit us .
28 ‘ One of them , ’ he recalled , ‘ had a son so paralysed that the boy could n't even laugh .
29 Could n't even tell you that , he kept his hat on all the time .
30 Not only was the vocabulary well beyond me , but I could n't even tell what my instructor was driving at .
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