Example sentences of "[noun] had [be] [v-ing] [prep] [det] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | The Old Stopfordians ' Association had been trying for many years to raise sufficient money to build the Pavilion , and indeed had sold the Harrison Towns field some three years previously for this very reason . |
| 2 | Ian Clark and Nicholas Wheeler demonstrate the degree to which British thinking had been moving in this direction since 1943 . |
| 3 | His next move was to Madrid , an upheaval that he and his girlfriend had been planning for some time , and there his photographic education continued apace , despite one or two minor problems . |
| 4 | This was interesting ; some tritium was occurring naturally in the heavy water and when they measured the tritium levels after the experiment had been running for some hours they found that the tritium level had dropped . |
| 5 | The City and the Confederation of British Industry had been looking for some indication of earlier participation in the exchange rate mechanism of the EMS . |
| 6 | In fact , he was so happy with the idea that had come to him from the writer , Peter Shaffer , he began the serious rethink of his career which friends like Lance Percival had been thinking for some time was overdue . |
| 7 | If it was a turning point in terms of ‘ proving ’ the relationship , it also marked the change in image Kylie had been wanting for such a long time . |
| 8 | The voices had been going on all evening . |
| 9 | Both countries had been speaking for some time of their desire to improve relations , without making much progress . |
| 10 | This was the moment Lynch had been building for all his life . |
| 11 | This was reportedly a concession which US oil companies had been seeking for some time . |
| 12 | It had never occurred to her that Christopher had been thinking of these things too . |
| 13 | Our fellow-traveller had been mumbling for some time that he would ‘ hae tae get oot ! ’ . |
| 14 | The practice of selling honours had been increasing under all governments and it was becoming more marked in both parties . |
| 15 | Guests had been arriving for some time , for they had heard cars coming and going , but she had n't met any yet . |
| 16 | When she was most irritated by Caro 's holier-than-thou , most nearly offended by how stupid/insensitive Caro must think her , with her ‘ what a world you live in ’ , and was thinking ‘ How young , how predictable , how limited you are , ’ came the twist in the conversation , the unexpected note , that looking back along the line of the conversation , was the note Caro had been heading for all the time . |
| 17 | In his own way , Ted had been building for this moment too . |
| 18 | The US and North Korean governments had been communicating for several years at a low level through the US embassy in Beijing . |
| 19 | Manning Jackson had been fretting for several minutes . |
| 20 | And then , after he and Owen had been talking for some while , he crooked his finger and called over the boy who had seen |
| 21 | I am convinced that stuff had been accumulating for many years in this cellar and that Ernest Griffiths had no idea what was in there . |
| 22 | The advice was given after Jo had been speaking to both children and their parents ( an audience that included 12 year old Romy Hutchins — a participant in the Challenge — and her father Paul , the former British Davis Cup captain and national team manager ) , in a unique question and answer session which preceded an on court clinic for the 20 or so participating juniors . |
| 23 | For a long time the industrious Bavarians had been preparing for such an attack . |
| 24 | The seething had been going on more or less from the time Taylor took over as manager . |
| 25 | The phone had been ringing for some time . |
| 26 | Several of the Board 's leading civil servants had been pressing for more equality in provision . |
| 27 | In practice Anglo-American co-operation had been increasing for some years , but this was now expanded . |
| 28 | So it was obvious that my father had been thinking of this long before . |
| 29 | Abingdon 's trade had been waning for some time , with its fulling mills lying in ruins and unemployment rife by 1538 . |
| 30 | The convoys had been coming through all week . |