Example sentences of "had long been a [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | It had long been a nonsense . |
| 2 | I had long been a believer in voluntary euthanasia , and my mother 's experience strengthened it ; for to me what matters most is not the length of a person 's life but its quality , and that death , when it comes , should have dignity . |
| 3 | Having decided that the rude manners and customs of an outback community ‘ are rather produced by their situation than derived from their ancestors ’ , he examines first how they regulated themselves traditionally ; then , the introduction and enforcement of the country 's general body of legislation — for instance , theft of cattle from drovers had long been a problem in the Highlands ; now their passage was growing safer . |
| 4 | He himself had long been a specialist in such relief when he would instantly brighten faces during his favourite tours of prisons , orphanages and nursing homes . |
| 5 | Opportunism had long been a characteristic of princes and alliances and changes of allegiance were connected with the patronage to be gained from the emperor . |
| 6 | It had long been a tradition for Roman emperors to claim descent from the gods , and on that basis to claim godhood for themselves as well . |
| 7 | Unlike much of Europe , England had long been a territory ruled by one dynasty , and was protected by the Channel from invasion by the great land powers of the Continent . |
| 8 | Thus , for example , Edessa , now Urfa in Turkey , had long been a centre of the twin cult , worshipping the pair under the names of Momim and Aziz . |
| 9 | He decided to return to England and try his hand at photography , which had long been a hobby of his . |
| 10 | His mother the Lady Morathi had long been a devotee of the cult . |
| 11 | He had long been a widower . |
| 12 | Road traffic had long been a matter for the police because of the very great concern over road accidents . |
| 13 | Prostitution , drunkenness , vagrancy and other ‘ unrespectable ’ manifestations of urban popular culture had long been a headache for local borough councils . |
| 14 | But there had long been a feeling that Hawaii , birthplace of surfing and home of the biggest waves , should have that honour by right . |
| 15 | Resignation threats had long been a weapon in de Gaulle 's armoury , but in the past he had used them from a position of strength . |
| 16 | Banbury had long been a market town of importance , and acquired a modest industrial capacity in the nineteenth century . |
| 17 | The Holy Land had long been a source of exasperation for Rome , and after the revolt of A.D. 66 Roman hostility towards Judaism intensified . |
| 18 | Getting readers to renew the subscription can-celled on holiday in August had long been a challenge to circulation managers . |
| 19 | The west-coast defences given a structure and a system of manning , they moved inland to the key sites at crossroads or ford or defile where , usually , there had long been a hill-fort or an earthwork of some kind . |
| 20 | Elaborate pricing mechanisms — the K-factors and all the rest — were set up by the government before the sell-off ; they were aimed at helping the industry , which had long been a victim of under-investment , to pay for a capital-spending programme of at least £18 billion over the next decade . |