Example sentences of "if [pron] could [adv] [be] [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Moreover , if nothing could ever be taken for granted , there would be large deadweight losses arising from bargaining and factionalism . |
| 2 | If we could actually be bothered to work it out , a vast number of strange people beat a path to our front doors in the course of a year . |
| 3 | Unfortunately all the evidence of the last 12 months suggests that while Gooch 's batting ability remains invaluable , England would do better under a more imaginative skipper , if one could only be found . |
| 4 | They clung to one another as if they could never be parted again . |
| 5 | Everyone enjoys going to the cinema and it would be nice if it could also be taken seriously . |
| 6 | And indeed , since social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture , it would be quite absurd if it could somehow be inferred from what social anthropologists teach that cultural diversity is both politically and morally deplorable . |
| 7 | Often a debilitated fish could be saved if it could just be persuaded to feed — perhaps such formulations have a role to play . |
| 8 | If it could still be shown that it remains an effective expression of democracy , that would indeed be a reason ; for any diminution of democracy is deplorable . |
| 9 | Why could a man 's voice in the night create an ache in a person so deep and so wide that it felt as if it could never be filled ? |
| 10 | Moreover , distinctions should be pointed out even though in the opinion of the student they are not material , if it could conceivably be argued that they are material : of course the student should express his own opinion that they are not material . |
| 11 | In spite of the clammy heat , shoppers began to hurry , but the rain which fell so readily when rainy days preceded it , now , after a fortnight 's drought , held off as if it could only be squeezed out as a result of some acute and agonising pressure . |
| 12 | He could not imagine finding tranquillity of soul in old age ; if he could only be allowed to mark time for a while all might yet be well , one might suddenly achieve equilibrium , certainty , serenity . |
| 13 | If he could ever be granted one wish in his life , he knew exactly what it would be . |
| 14 | If he could hardly be described as a democrat , he certainly helped establish the parliamentary control and party politics which paved the way for democracy . |