Example sentences of "can only be a [adj] [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Even if we accept the enforceability criterion for the existence of a law this can only be a necessary requirement of law if ‘ enforceability ’ is taken in a weak sense to mean that the rules in question are by and large adhered to , which need not , of course , be the result of threats . |
| 2 | The committees can only be a temporary problem-solving device , bet the situations which create the problems are not temporary . |
| 3 | Conditions ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) alone clearly are not enough and there can only be a limited number of ways of thinking of conditions which give the same results as ( 3 ) and ( 4 ) . |
| 4 | It was for them that Paul Rotha spoke when he declared : ‘ The dialogue film , at its best , can only be a poor substitute for the stage . ’ |
| 5 | So when the police declare ( as they do ) that they are non-political institution , this can only be a partial truth . |
| 6 | Thus , due to the sheer complexity of spatial data and the operations available , this can only be a partial solution to the general problem of user interaction with a GIS ( Gould 1989 ) . |
| 7 | In Mary 's reign , between 1542 and 1574 , when the civil war which followed her deposition was finally over , there were twenty-five large-scale bonds involving groups of people , five of which were made in the first six years of the minority , as well as the thirty-six individual bonds made mainly for political purposes by Arran and Mary of Guise , and the two by Beaton which , in view of the comment by John Knox about the extensive number of his bonds , can only be a small proportion of the total . |
| 8 | The signal can only be a small molecule as the pores are so fine as to prevent passage of larger substances . |
| 9 | However , these can only be a rough guide , and there is no replacement for experience of getting down among the crevices , ledges and pools . |
| 10 | The unusual juxtaposition of these two words can only be a subconscious association in the author 's mind with the well-known carol , The Twelve Days of Christmas whose repetitive chorus ends , ‘ And a partridge in a pear-tree . ’ |
| 11 | In contrast to Table 3.9 , Table 3.10 shows higher consultation rates by the lower socio-economic groups , but the Black Report points out that this can only be a tentative conclusion because of the problematic nature of the data on which the table is based . |
| 12 | With Wittgenstein 's approach in mind , this can only be a dispiriting beginning . |
| 13 | On the positive side , perhaps a renewed interest in old school rap can only be a good thing . |
| 14 | I welcome the competition that Eric provides and that can only be a good thing for the club . |
| 15 | As the head of science put it : I think once it gets off the ground and we have got the library and the integrated studies and study skills teaching in a central resource area for the whole school , I think then , people are going to have to start seriously appraising the way they teach and I think that can only be a good thing . |
| 16 | The dramatic reduction in complaints and , of course , the high value placed on the quality improvement itself can only be a good thing for the business . ’ |
| 17 | It 's really good because management 's the same no matter where it is , but in the Health Service there are sometimes specific problems and this course is geared to people working in the Health Service and that can only be a good thing . |
| 18 | The subject is one which needs to be brought to the attention of the Environment Committee and is something which the Council 's Environment Officer , once appointed , may wish to tackle on a corporate basis although one which can only be a token gesture since neither the use of peat or the peat land resource in Lothian are major issues . |
| 19 | Balling claims that the overall contribution from desertification caused by human activity is around 0.013 degrees per year , but admits that it can only be a significant factor for about 15 per cent of the Earth 's surface . |
| 20 | To condemn the child in the first few days of its life , and engineer its death can only be a gross misjustice . |
| 21 | The difference between Figures 2 and 3 is probably not important , each being just a different representation of what can only be a pale reflection of the true state of affairs , just as any illustration of the body 's organs is but a poor reflection of its true inner workings . |
| 22 | From the moment that Blanche decides to persuade Stella to leave the ‘ brute ’ , it is possible to see that there can only be a tragic ending . |
| 23 | If therefore these words [ Genesis 3:16 ] give any Power to Adam , it can only be a Conjugal Power , not Political , the Power that every Husband hath to order the things of private Concernment in his Family , as the Proprietor of the Goods and Land there , and to have his Will take place before that of his wife in all things of their common Concernment ; but not a Political Power of Life and Death over her , much less over any body else . |
| 24 | For , like the Falklands war ( only on a bigger scale ) , this can only be a one-off operation . |
| 25 | The assertion that it exists can only be an external statement of fact . |
| 26 | ‘ This new policy can only be an interim solution . |
| 27 | As in decentralization , some degree of latitude in interpretation of centre policy would be necessary for its implementation to adapt to local influences which can only be an unknown factor at the beginning of the facilitating process . |
| 28 | Hence the eventual output can only be an unstructured sequence of content words . |