Example sentences of "[noun prp] [verb] been [prep] [noun pl] [verb] " in BNC.
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| 1 | Following Britain 's recent dispute with China over the stationing of People 's Liberation Army troops in Hong Kong after 1997 , Whitehall has been at pains to keep its distance from the immigration row . |
| 2 | Mr Malik had been at pains to exclude what he continued to call ‘ the loonies ’ — that is to say , anyone whose attitude to the practice of his faith was , in the headmaster 's opinion , excessively enthusiastic . |
| 3 | Mr MacSharry and Commission President Jacques Delors have been at daggers drawn for weeks over tactics in the GATT talks with the Americans with Mr Delors accused of favouring the powerful French farm lobby . |
| 4 | Since Bartocci had been at pains to emphasize that his comments were ‘ off the record ’ , Zen could of course simply ignore them . |
| 5 | As Coleman had been at pains to point this out before taking on the DEA assignment , he could hardly disagree , but the risk had seemed acceptable at the time and he had taken particular care to underline his academic credentials whenever he met Hurley 's people . |
| 6 | Or rather , as Rachel had been at pains to point out , a misunderstanding of Lamark 's theory of learned characteristics being inherited . |