Example sentences of "[noun pl] could only [vb infin] " in BNC.
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| 1 | Fifty years ago , Debussy fans could only buy records of this or that piano piece from the Préludes , Estampes , Children 's Corner and so on , and I remember my pleasure as a child in acquiring HMV 's 12-inch shellac disc of Rubinstein playing the Prélude from Pour le piano ( labelled as ‘ Prelude in A minor ’ ) coupled with Ravel 's ‘ Forlane ’ from Le tombeau de Couperin . |
| 2 | Chamden City Reserves could only find five players . |
| 3 | Because of the size of the Recital Room , the Concert Halls could only appeal to limited groups of musicians . |
| 4 | Foreign manufacturers could only benefit by starting new factories in Britain , again creating jobs . |
| 5 | Furniture manufacturers could only operate under licence to the government and most of their products were designated for the defence of the realm . |
| 6 | In fact , many of these images could only have been created with the aid of magnifying glasses . |
| 7 | Western Samoa dominated the second-half when the Scots could only add another Townsend penalty . |
| 8 | Her letters to her daughter were a constant reminder of the affairs of her kingdom — and of the fact that regents could only do so much . |
| 9 | They had about them enough cameras and guide books to assure us that they were tourists , and the lady 's sunglasses could only have been , in Anna 's words , " products of the New World " . |
| 10 | That last minute instruction from London said that planners could only form a view . |
| 11 | And enjoying his own agonizing neverending penance , of which his Marines could only whisper with awe . |
| 12 | His life would take him far away from Bray 's Buildings as the years went by , searching for adventure on the high seas , visiting in reality places his parents could only have dreamed of . |
| 13 | My parents could only afford to give me some small change on Sundays , but it was enough for a cinema ticket and an ice cream . |
| 14 | Even the greatest nobles could only gain admittance by sending in presents of large sums of money : ‘ whosoever gets enamoured of her gets sucked into the whirlpool of her demands , ’ writes Dargah Quli Khan , ‘ and brings ruin upon himself and his house . |
| 15 | To insist upon the inquest in these circumstances could only have been for the purpose of procuring a rapping over the knuckles in public of that authority and/or a convenient means of obtaining evidence for a subsequent claim against it . |
| 16 | In the opening récit the oboes could only have played on the three-part ritournelle , presumably two treble oboes and a bassoon , as in the numerous wind trios in Lully 's later works . |
| 17 | This policy was adopted by the government as part of its general economic strategy to cut public expenditure and meant that local authorities could only exceed a predetermined level of spending on higher education if they found the additional sums of money from the rates . |
| 18 | Instead of local authorities having the inherent right , or what in England is called the common law right , to conduct their affairs as they wished , it became established that local authorities could only do those things which Parliament had authorised them to do . |
| 19 | They observe , however , that it would on any view be a grave impediment to the freedom of the press if those who print , or a fortiori those who distribute , matter reflecting critically on the conduct of public authorities could only do so with impunity if they could first verify the accuracy of all statements of fact on which the criticism was based . |
| 20 | The Phillips curve was regarded as an inescapable constraint on policy action which the authorities could only ignore at their peril . |
| 21 | The county in most immediate danger was Kent , but the death of the Lord Lieutenant had left the local defence arrangements in disarray and one of his deputies could only promise ‘ If the French come in March we shall be ready with our militia , ’ which was not , in late December , very reassuring . |
| 22 | Nation states could only coexist peaceably if a strong collective security arrangement were respected by all . |
| 23 | Meanwhile Hellenistic , Roman and early Medieval jewellers could only treat transparent coloured stones by rubbing them smooth . |
| 24 | The courts could only intervene if the authorities ' decisions could be shown to lack " reasonable foundation " , it declared . |
| 25 | ‘ It was felt that the Government 's proposals could only lead to inadequate funding which would inevitably force many practitioners to leave duty solicitor schemes and indeed the criminal practice permanently . ’ |
| 26 | ‘ It was felt that the Government 's proposals could only lead to inadequate funding which would inevitably force many practitioners to leave duty solicitor schemes and indeed the criminal practice permanently . ’ |
| 27 | A dense darkness you could touch , the whirring din of the coal-cutting machine , throwing into the air black dust so thick that the light beams from the miners ’ lamps could only shine into it a few inches — the impression of numberless , short pit props placed only a foot or two apart , to support above them a mile 's weight of rock and earth ceiling — all this in the stifling heat . |
| 28 | A DENSE DARKNESS YOU COULD TOUCH , THE WHIRRING DIN OF THE COAL-CUTTING MACHINE , THROWING INTO THE AIR BLACK DUST SO THICK THAT THE LIGHT BEAMS FROM THE MINERS ’ LAMPS COULD ONLY SHINE INTO IT A FEW INCHES . |
| 29 | The defenders could only watch . |
| 30 | Enlightened anticlerical views could only spread among a fairly small educated élite and in Russia , in spite of some ultraconservatives , it was the ruling class which was alienated from the church rather than the mass of the people . |