Example sentences of "they were about [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Well fortunately the Spanish were even more incompetent than he was and what the Spanish commander , instead of rubbing his hands at the prospect of er the damage they were about to wreak , he discovered that they had the wrong calibre shells for their guns and Roosevelt and the Rough Riders overran the Spanish guns a and Teddy Roosevelt became a war hero and on the strength of becoming a war hero , he become vice president of the United States , got the vice presidential nomination and in good American fashion the president was shot er by an assassin er and Teddy Roosevelt became president , so there you are , there 's a there 's a career plan for you to er to think about . |
| 2 | Just as they were about to go down it , the door opened . |
| 3 | As they were about to go inside — for although it was a pleasant summer day , it was always likely to be windy on top , and their hats might blow away — Florrie exclaimed in sudden panic : ‘ Oh , good gracious ! |
| 4 | They were about to go through to the back-kitchen when the door behind the bar opened , and Connor came out with a large , pink-faced gentleman . |
| 5 | Despite the early hour , the eunuchs were all dressed and painted as if they were about to go out to a late-night nautch . |
| 6 | Eventually the majority of Cook 's excursionists were women ; they climbed the Alps , negotiated glaciers , scrambled up the Pyramids and crossed deserts , dressed always as if they were about to take afternoon tea with the vicar . |
| 7 | But they did not know beforehand that one of the children they were about to take suffered from asthma . |
| 8 | A small silence was filled by mutual contemplation of the step they were about to take . |
| 9 | To troops who had not yet been through the mill at Verdun , passing men whom they were about to relieve was an unnerving experience ; they seemed like beings from another world . |
| 10 | Realising she had no chance of winning an argument against the use of first names when they were about to spend several weeks alone at sea together , Polly made a brief gesture of acquiescence . |
| 11 | They were about to arrest the whole band until I told them I was to blame . ’ |
| 12 | Mr Evans said , when they were about to set off . |
| 13 | In another village in the hills where there was a Christian community the village pastor came to find the chaplain and explained that they were about to hold a service of thanksgiving for their liberation and would like some of the troops to attend . |
| 14 | His slacks and sweater were well-styled and good , but he managed to wear them as if they were about to fall off him . |
| 15 | Just when you thought they were about to finish they would burst off again . |
| 16 | It finally came home then to Delaney what they were about to do in several hours ' time . |
| 17 | Whenever she rode out with Jenkins , he always called to her what they were about to do , whether they were going to trot , or canter , jump or gallop . |
| 18 | Whatever they had been ordered to do they were about to do it right away and Felipe replaced the phone with a dark frown on his face . |
| 19 | He had been dreaming that he and his friend Aidan Lynch were on Death Row in some American prison and they were about to die in the electric chair . |
| 20 | They were about to call for padded suits when ex-jockey John got home at Maidenhead , Berks . |
| 21 | What Claudia had in mind was some colouring of the evidence so that the district officer , Miles Turnbull , a harassed , overworked but popular man , who was dead — bien entendu — could be seen to have acted rashly in asking his askaris to point a gun at Tepilit , which Tepilit naturally interpreted as meaning they were about to shoot him . |
| 22 | Just as they were about to give up hope of finding their way a huge while wolf appeared , which instead of attacking them began to guide them skilfully through the dark wood . |
| 23 | Shadow ministers , who had been behaving as if they were about to move into Whitehall , looked stunned and shattered . |
| 24 | Just when they were about to ask Brussels to impose the fruits of their labour as the official standard for European direct-broadcast satellites , someone at the French foreign ministry leaked a report which argues that their technology , called D2 MAC , is already out of date . |
| 25 | And just as they were about to leave , as if to make a grand exit of it , O kissed Boy again , very publicly . |
| 26 | Sometimes they 'd fuck right away , or sometimes they 'd wait till they were about to leave , but they 'd always do it on the sheet , the same sheet he 'd brought that first time , as if , without it , some spell might be broken and everything would fall apart . |
| 27 | Didier Pironi told me they were about to leave the circuit for a hotel to meet in private where they could not be coerced by their bosses and , as it happens , along with a half-dozen other early colleagues , my car was well placed to follow the bus as it drove off . |
| 28 | When they were about to leave for the restaurant , a man standing near the bar came up to Kevin and said , ‘ If ye 're wanting a place here , the Half House is on the market . ’ |
| 29 | Our old mates THE ORB popped round to Vibes central control the other day for tea and spacecakes and a quick intergalactic natter , and somehow they just happened to leave a whole box of ORB window stickers in the VIBES record cupboard — and would you believe it just as they were about to leave we could n't find the key ? |
| 30 | No — he was buttoning his jacket in a purposeful manner , and they were about to leave the scene . |