Example sentences of "[modal v] not have [vb pp] [prep] a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | So maybe the lack of interest in Latin American art this week should not have come as a shock . |
| 2 | Yet his father 's death should not have come as a surprise . |
| 3 | ‘ For my part I do not think that the House of Lords in that case had in mind the special position in the administration of justice of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Crown Prosecution Service or would have been prepared to extend the effect of the orders of a civil court in such a way as indirectly to bind them in the performance of their duties in relation to the criminal law and before the criminal courts in circumstances in which they had not sought and may not have wished for an order for discovery . |
| 4 | This might not have led to a massive reduction that saw the rabbits left at the lowest desirable number , but it was the best that could be done under the circumstances . |
| 5 | They told the inquiry that if a particularly strong FM transmission was made very near the radio it might be possible for it to pick up the sub-harmonic at around 14 MHz but that such a signal could not have emanated from a low-powered , hand-held type of two-way radio . |
| 6 | It is idle to speculate on the source of leaks — that I did learn in my years in Government — but what was certain was that the Telegraph story could not have appeared at a worse time . |
| 7 | He could not have asked for a clearer-case of his anti-Christian enemy ‘ trampling on the moral law ’ than in Hungary . |
| 8 | I could not have asked for a better introduction to the summer Alps ’ . |
| 9 | If the cast had needed a demonstration of Michael Banks 's genuine warmth , they could not have asked for a better one than the way he dealt with Alex Household . |
| 10 | The Prince could not have hoped for a better platform . |
| 11 | She could not have guessed how much she would enjoy herself with a stranger , how completely this woman was in sympathy with her , could not have hoped for a new friend to come out , at this stage in her life , and give her so much pleasure . |
| 12 | Spain would have been cowed without Wellington 's field force : Wellington could not have operated with a small army without the diversionary effects of Spanish resistance . |
| 13 | According to Mr Dieter Brauninger , an economist at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt , the newcomers could not have arrived at a better time : a period of dynamic growth , when gaps created by the fall in the birth rate in the past two decades need to be filled . |
| 14 | As we saw earlier , the technology of the time certainly could not have coped with a live street recording , so one wonders how the company got away with that . |
| 15 | Such employment leaps in particular industries could not have occurred in a tight labour market with slow labour-force growth . |
| 16 | In Peking 's eyes , the Nobel Peace Prize could not have come at a worse time . |
| 17 | The invitation could not have come at a better time . |
| 18 | The timing of the announcement could not have come at a more politically sensitive time . |
| 19 | For Sinton , who made his England debut in Poznan in the crucial final qualifier against Poland last November and was a member of the England B side that defeated France B at Loftus Road in February , that run could not have come at a better time . |
| 20 | This could not have come at a worse time , with the prospect in view of becoming an ‘ officer 's lady ’ . |
| 21 | She could not have come at a worse time ; a few hours after she arrived , she was a helpless burning hulk , with most of her passengers and crew dead . |
| 22 | And the announcement of the engagement could not have come at a better time for the battle-weary Royal Family . |
| 23 | It could not have come at a worse time for the Royal Family , almost on the eve of the wedding of Princess Anne to Commander Tim Laurence . |
| 24 | His first injury in English football could not have come at a worst time . |
| 25 | ‘ Then my news could not have come at a better time ! ’ |
| 26 | ‘ In many ways , it could not have come at a worse time because the selectors are obviously considering alternatives after the defeat at Old Trafford and I would like to think I would be one of them . ’ |
| 27 | ‘ God witness , ’ said Llewelyn , drumming his long fingers on the arms of his chair in a hard-driven rhythm that was always a key to the stresses of his mind , ‘ it could not have come at a worse time . |
| 28 | Larkins , who made 103 before retiring to give his team-mates a bat , could not have wished for a better comeback , and with Robin Smith making a stylish 70 , England made 263 for four from 50 overs . |
| 29 | ‘ If I was lonely , I would not have gone to a teacher and said so — he would have told me to pull myself together . |
| 30 | Some of the stimulus for this came from a survey of senior medical students , yet when 30 current house officers were consulted all but two said that , though they would be happy to have the opportunity to apply for both jobs at one hospital , they would not have applied for a one year block contract that restricted them to one hospital . |