Example sentences of "had [be] able [verb] a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | It was a full day later before Schmidt had been able to form a coherent sentence , though his words still came in a low , wracked whisper . |
| 2 | If I had been able to see a copy of the local Communist party paper , I would have learned that I — with many others — had been unmasked as a conspirator and an enemy of the state . |
| 3 | It was the first time I had been able to attend a pub meet at this particular hostelry , and I thought it was very nice , full of young people without being a noisy ‘ fun pub ’ . |
| 4 | Although this is undoubtedly true , on two occasions during the period covered by this book ( 1660 and 1688 ) an invading army ( one from Scotland , the other from Holland ) had been able to exploit a severe domestic political crisis and widespread popular disaffection in order to bring about a change of political regimes . |
| 5 | Three weeks earlier they had flown out to Rome where they had been able to spend a few days as guests of the staff and students at the Venerable English College before setting out from St Peter 's Square on Wednesday , 30th September to cycle more than 1,700 miles across Italy , Switzerland and France , then up through England . |
| 6 | Second , if the Liberals and Social Democrats had been able to squeeze a few more votes from Labour supporters , then it could well have been the Labour Party that finished up with just a few seats in parliament out of all proportion to votes cast . |
| 7 | Since the Criminal Justice Act 1967 , the Courts had been able to suspend a sentence of imprisonment , but not to require part of it to be served in custody with part suspended . |
| 8 | By this stage the airlines had been able to restore a basic service by recruiting new pilots , persuading pilots out of retirement and persuading some to return to work on individual contracts . |
| 9 | Before returning from England I had been able to recruit a very competent English journalist , F.W. Benton , who soon improved the quality of our English daily . |
| 10 | Before going he had told us that firstly , all his carp had been caught on sweetcorn and bread and although fishing with boilies on one rod all week he had been able to get a take , in his words they just did not seem to eat them ; secondly , although there were plenty of carp on the surface they did not seem the least bit interested in floaters , and thirdly he was at a loss to know what one needed to do to put a cat on the bank . |
| 11 | The author of The Cloud of Unknowing had been able to overcome a deep historical prejudice in his enthusiasm for Greek spirituality . |
| 12 | I had been able to have a couple of hours ' sleep here and there since the landings and , most important , I was able to move around more or less as I wanted to . |
| 13 | These included the information that Army Group E had been able to establish a road block on the frontier , and was : " in touch with 21 and 19 Corps and other troops south of DRA VA consisting of 300,000 Germans and 200,000 Croats greater part armed . |
| 14 | His stepfather , Mr Roger Cager , said yesterday that after the operation Simon had been able to pass a medical to train to be a policeman . |
| 15 | During the previous six months I had been able to keep a more watchful eye on the whereabouts of the elusive Charlie , thanks to the help of a young officer Daphne had introduced me to who worked in the War Office . |
| 16 | Over New Year I had been able to escape a constant anxiety that time was running out . |
| 17 | The GenTech labs could n't do anything about the common cold and no government had been able to develop a workable public transport system , but when it came to deathware , why , there were wonderful new toys on the market every fall , just in time for Christmas . |
| 18 | So far he had been able to maintain a claim to even-handedness on the grounds that he treated both sides , Moslems and Copt , with equal severity . |
| 19 | More recently , in Mary Tudor 's reign , the family had come into favour at court because of its reputation for piety and loyalty to the Church , and Sir Gregory had been able to build a new house on the site of the old . |
| 20 | They had been able to build a rapport with him , however . |
| 21 | Giving graphic details of the 11-hour stand-off , Capt Goebel said Demeke had held the gun to his head or that of his co-pilot for most of the flight , but they had been able to build a rapport with him . |