Example sentences of "[modal v] not [verb] [pn reflx] [prep] [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | In spite of the fact that since the Clean Air Act of 1956 , pollution caused by smoke has been greatly reduced to the benefit of those who live in the cities , we must not fool ourselves into thinking that there is no longer any problem . |
| 2 | It occurred to Hobbes that since knowledge , whether systematically developed or not , begins with sense-perception , we should not pride ourselves on knowing much if we do not understand what sense-perception actually is . |
| 3 | He could not stop himself from thinking about it and he shuddered , as he imagined again Simon 's hands around his neck . |
| 4 | Even so , he could not stop himself from feeling it was wrong . |
| 5 | And Amabel could not stop herself from thinking that this dreadful , dirty town must surely be to blame , that if Gemma had been less stubborn about remaining here , in this dark old manor , standing cheek-by-jowl with the brewery and the foundry and those hundreds and hundreds of unwashed , unlettered people who worked in them , then this tragedy would not have occurred . |
| 6 | It did n't matter how innovative the products I set out to market actually were , I could not prevent myself from seeing them already in some illimitable bazaar of the far future , long obsolete and hopelessly dated , so much cosmological car-boot-sale fodder . |
| 7 | Such was the Doctor 's rage , so accustomed was Louise to obedience , that she could not prevent herself from hurrying to execute his orders . |
| 8 | She could not prevent herself from saying in a doubtful voice , ‘ You will be careful when you go to bed , wo n't you ? ’ |
| 9 | Unfortunately , her husband could not reconcile himself to having married a commoner and even taught their sons to be disrespectful to her when they were young . |
| 10 | Afterwards , Wilson could not forgive herself for endangering these beautifully laid plans . |
| 11 | I could not restrain myself from hastening to view one of those Druid circles , of which there are so many in the Isle of Lewis ; that given in the small vignette is the first one I reached . |
| 12 | After this ( but only ‘ when she was in any company ’ ) she could not restrain herself from saying , ‘ It is full merry in Heaven ’ . |
| 13 | When Ariel saw how the incomers failed to meet indigo 's exacting standards of care , she could not restrain herself from offering her expertise ; she tended , restaked , pruned and watered the trampled shrubberies of Sycorax , teaching the English how to cultivate the precious dye . |
| 14 | If he were to conform to the strict rules of etiquette and combat guiding the danseurs nobles of the French opera-ballets , he would not demean himself by seizing the nearest thing at hand , the rudder from his boat , to put his adversary to flight . |
| 15 | The government remained reluctant to recognize UNITA until it agreed to end its destabilization campaign , while UNITA would not commit itself to ending hostilities until its future political role was guaranteed . |
| 16 | The equanimity of your average tosser of coins depends upon the law , or rather a tendency , or let us say a probability , or at any rate a mathematically calculable chance , which ensures that he will not upset himself by losing too much nor upset his opponent by winning too often . |
| 17 | What I am concerned about is that electricity privatisation will not lend itself to improving the situation . |
| 18 | For his part the president , as he tries to get the cooperation he needs , will not restrict himself to offering inducements . |
| 19 | But I will not humiliate myself by trying to justify what I do . |
| 20 | I barely hold back a hurrah , but can not stop myself from doing a backwards roll during which everything seems to go into slomo and clarify like a TV closeup : my backward roll begins , the picture outside the window slowly slips downward . |
| 21 | ‘ We can not commit ourselves to sacking senior managers who have simply been doing their jobs . |
| 22 | for the animal in its mud burrow , valuable time will be lost if it can not prepare itself for foraging until after the tide has left the shore . |
| 23 | It is obvious that a government agency for denationalization can not pride itself of having any ‘ historical background ’ , and whereas the pre-war Hungarian stock exchange followed the pattern of Vienna , Frankfurt , Berlin , and Paris , the new legislation tried to make use of all modern concepts ( which is specifically true of laws against insider trading ) . |
| 24 | I can not console myself for having missed it . ’ |
| 25 | He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged , for by himself he can not help himself without belying the truth . |
| 26 | However , even on the view that the plaintiff must be the target , no malice or spite is required : apart from the protection of the trade disputes legislation the tort would be committed by a trade union officer calling his members out on strike and he can not defend himself by arguing that his purpose was the increase of his members ' wages : unlike the tort of conspiracy , no predominant purpose to injure the plaintiff is required . |