Example sentences of "[was/were] it " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | ’ ‘ Oh dear-was it somebody I gave permission to ? ’ asked Ianthe . |
| 2 | It is quite possible that a number of other political changes would have got under way more recently were it not for the direct intervention of Pope John Paul II and the Vatican . |
| 3 | A great detective might have considered this an astounding coincidence were it not for the fact that the hostelry was the only place in the whole of King 's Magnum Parva where a lady or a gentleman might obtain a meal . |
| 4 | The poem itself he found ‘ a pompous parade of erudition ’ , and he decided that ‘ were it not for the Laforgue mechanism , Mr Eliot s poetic variations on the theme of a super-refined futility would be increasingly thin and incredibly second rate ’ ( The Freeman , 17 January 1923 ) . |
| 5 | Arguably , Macao would worry less about its future were it not constantly exposed to the nervousness of Hong Kong across the water . |
| 6 | Were it an elephant , our feet would be in its midriff , our heads just under its rib-cage . |
| 7 | Not surprisingly , in their rush they were disinclined to hump mounds of electrical equipment into the west with them , and would now find themselves without so much as a guitar string to their name , were it not for the warm-hearted generosity of the British thrash metal community . |
| 8 | All of these things can be found here , in an album which could well be a Bunnymen work , were it not for the absence of much of the pomposity to which they were inclined ( though , unrepentant fans will note , not all of it judging by track titles like ‘ The White Hotel ’ and ‘ Proud to Fall ’ ) . |
| 9 | Many would dismiss Peter Thompson 's pessimism out of hand were it not for the fact that he was the author of a paper in July 1987 , when the market was at its pre-crash high , called ‘ The End of the Long Bull Market ’ . |
| 10 | This might plausibly be dismissed as ‘ Victorian stupidity ’ were it not for the tact that in Britain in 1988 a similar view was actually inscribed in law . |
| 11 | Her mother , she thought with a most annoying pride , who was one of the few genuinely creative women scientists around and in whose success , were it anyone except her mother 's , she would be rejoicing . |
| 12 | They would look incongruous , like far-flung gouchos , were it not for their high-stepping Icelandic ponies . |
| 13 | Encased in pile and nylon , hoods drawn tight , it would be easy to forget the world in a welter of sensations , were it not for the running commentary that Tove keeps up . |
| 14 | Burden left him contemplating the printed tea cloth as if , were it possible to transmute it to paper , reduce its size and multiply it manifold , he would be a happy man . |
| 15 | Replacement of the eroded ragstone facing could have provided a problem were it not for the fact that the builder who was employed to undertake the conversion was dismantling an identically constructed church at Canterbury at the same time and thus it was possible to import salvaged ragstone from the demolition for re-use at All Saints and St Barnabas . |
| 16 | Were it not for the support of sympathetic friends , the residents in our Homes and those who work in our factory could not be given the necessary help and encouragement to overcome their handicap , for we are dependent on voluntary help . |
| 17 | Kurtag is Ligeti 's opposite — a divergent musical thinker whose every new work might be by another composer , were it not for the extreme compression that is constant to his style . |
| 18 | But were it not for the perceived economic might of a more unified Economic Community , the dozen or so nations of the Pacific Rim , who have been meeting in Australia , might not have bothered . |
| 19 | IWOULD agree that male and female stereotypes portrayed in cartoons are equally abhorrent , were it not for the fact that , whilst one pokes fun at a powerful group in society ( men ) , the other perpetuates the oppression of a powerless group ( women ) . |
| 20 | He also held , dubiously , that were it not for the corruptions imposed by state and law , men would develop bonds of instinctive solidarity which would make government unnecessary . |
| 21 | Such a stand might look principled , were it not a sham . |
| 22 | Were it not for the prospect of seizing the Swiss money , it is doubtful whether the Philippines would be ready to allow Mrs Marcos home this year or any other year . |
| 23 | Were it not for these he would not have produced any of the philosophy for which he is now remembered . |
| 24 | This might seem inconsistent with the fact that women were living longer , were it not that longer life brought no immediate improvement in their prospects ; it remained a man 's world . |
| 25 | Building a tractor from scratch would have been an impossible task , he admits , were it not for the fact that tractor-pulling expert Alan Williams live nearby . |
| 26 | A second-hand ZF tractor axle would have been ideal , were it not for the likely 12,000 price-tag and the fact that they 're hard to get hold of . |
| 27 | The boy slept in a large front bedroom whose window , were it not so closely covered by an old woollen blanket , looked out over the once elegant front walkway with its crazy paving and stepped terraces . |
| 28 | She would not have the heart to do it , were it not for his own good . |
| 29 | The curious nature of the Bar would matter less were it not for the fact that it supplies the vast majority of judges . |
| 30 | Even in daylight with every faculty at full steam it would n't have been an easy search , and as things were it was abysmal . |