Example sentences of "[noun pl] [vb past] themselves [to-vb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | The communique issued by the participants stated that ‘ surplus countries committed themselves to following policies designed to strengthen domestic demand and to reducing external surpluses ’ and ‘ deficit countries committed themselves to encourage steady , low-inflation growth while reducing their domestic imbalances and external deficits . ’ |
| 2 | At home , Puritans surrendered themselves to study , self-examination , and prayer ; they taught the catechism to their children , pored over Foxe 's Book of Martyrs , and read devotional manuals for guidance in the formulation of private , ex tempore prayers . |
| 3 | For another ten years not a soul had dared enter it , until the snake-hunters steeled themselves to descend in pursuit of a python which had consumed a child in the dry season of 1969 . |
| 4 | The record was broken by scientific training and pacing in which two first-class athletes sacrificed themselves to permit Bannister to break the record . |
| 5 | One commented on ‘ Iran 's astonishing gesture in accepting … while all the other OPEC members bound themselves to return to the quotas of 1984 . ’ |
| 6 | He indicated that Soviet leaders had themselves to clarify their agenda for economic and political reform and added that " if they do … we can serve as a catalyst " . |
| 7 | The prosecution alleges the two men helped themselves to cash , having forced the two cashiers to lie on the floor at gunpoint . |
| 8 | Other joint statements and memorandums included a charter on American-Russian partnership and friendship ( in which both sides committed themselves to settle disputes peacefully ) , and agreements on co-operation in space research , on an early warning system for nuclear missile launches , on the elimination of chemical weapons , and on investment in Russia . |
| 9 | None of this alters the fact that it is possible to use these adjectives with a tense value distinctively different from that of the preceding verb ; see ( 51 ) and the contrast in ( 52 ) : ( 51 ) we all know Cerrutty to have been fortunate ( 52 ) ( a ) in the test my men showed themselves alert ( b ) in the test my men showed themselves to have been alert In ( 52 ) , ( a ) would naturally be suitable when the men respond promptly during the test , and ( b ) when , for instance , they had been alert in paying attention to instructions given at some time before the test . |
| 10 | As the Poles organised themselves to combat the increasingly virulent Germanisation policies of the new German Reich , so cash flowed into the newly created and increasingly efficient Polish Land Banks . |
| 11 | While one has to admire the contortions into which employers forced themselves to go to prove that their current practice was rational , coherent and best for all concerned , one feels they do protest too much . |
| 12 | So the Collector and Hookum Singh and half a dozen others prepared themselves to defend the drawing-room door , if necessary with bayonets as well as firearms . |
| 13 | Trade unions pledged themselves to resist government plans to rationalize the public sector , privatize state industries , and streamline the economy for export-orientated growth [ see pp. 37706 ] . |