Example sentences of "[modal v] to be able [to-vb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | I used to be able to go to a park and swim , or check out a ball to play with , because they had a part-time supervisor there , then they take that away and the park becomes a land mass , then it becomes a turf , you see ? |
| 2 | You used to be able to go along to a pottery , say , and say , ‘ What was going on here at about eight o'clock this morning ? ’ … |
| 3 | From right from the time office er I used to go into blacksmith shop to mash tea because that 's where we used to We used to be able to go and take the cam for the timekeeper and I was in the stores too , and er mash the tea in the forge They put the kettle on the forge you see ? |
| 4 | And er then er these two erm er Then when we used to when we was the young you used to be able to go down to Skeggie for a day on train for two and six . |
| 5 | We never used to be able to go and play anywhere take this one with you . |
| 6 | I mean you used to be able to go ah ! |
| 7 | I used to be able to go to bed early and go to sleep . |
| 8 | Apparently his grandmothers Budgie used to be able to say ‘ Top of the morning to you ! … |
| 9 | BIRDS do it , bees do it , but you used to be able to watch Emmerdale Farm with your granny and be confident that the cast would n't do it . |
| 10 | One used to be able to listen to light classical music on Radio 2 on a Sunday morning , but that has disappeared , and Radio 4 's topsy-turvy ‘ streamlining ’ has wrecked the listening habits of years . |
| 11 | I mean if we look at erm the large number of single parent families , mainly who are headed by women , the position of Social Security for these women has deteriorated in the last few years erm both in terms of the real value of the money received ; Child Benefit has been frozen for the last three or four years ; regulations such as you used to be able to offset your child care expenses when you were claiming income support have been changed , women can no longer can now only earn erm fifteen pounds a week of they 're a single parent and they can not offset their child care costs . |
| 12 | Psychologism , through its influence in marriage guidance and churches , and also through its effects in the world of work — in personnel management , for example — is able to link the two spheres in a way religion used to be able to do but can not do any longer . |
| 13 | ‘ I used to be able to do everything my friends did , ’ she says . |
| 14 | I used to be able to do this and come out chuckling . ’ |
| 15 | I 'm old , I know I 'm old and I ca n't do all the things that I used to be able to do . |
| 16 | I used to be able to do it , I forgot how do my fingers go now . |
| 17 | He used to be able to do it did n't he , old tap tap ? |
| 18 | No , I fucking once upon a time I used to be able to do it . |
| 19 | I used to be able to do that . |
| 20 | I , I really jiggered myself this morning and I was only out about half an hour , you know , and I used to be able to do a full day ! |
| 21 | Before the clampdown , I used to be able to score round here , there was that many places that you can score really . |
| 22 | We used to get help from the Co-ops because they used to give us lists of new members and we used to be able to canvass those . |
| 23 | In the old days , we used to be able to fund the house from farm income . |
| 24 | So all , as I say erm , never used to be able to die with asthma there was but very few , but now it seems to be more common because people are not going for help when they need it . |
| 25 | ‘ I used to be able to walk thirteen paces every way on the raft ; and now it 's only twelve . ’ |
| 26 | Do you remember those peppermint creams we used to be able to get ? |
| 27 | And we used to be able to get all the gear in John Illsley 's car … ! ’ |
| 28 | It 's very difficult to get professional advice that is apposite — you used to be able to get free advice from the Ministry of Agriculture but now they charge you for the privilege of being told how not to farm . ’ |
| 29 | The first May I fell out my garden and put my elbow out , this , this , this one right out which makes it awkward for me to use now , you know , I , I put that right out and therefore erm I had to go at , up to hospital and put that right and the follow the following , the following May my bed caught alight with electric blanket and that blazed all up , had my , had my bed all alight my double bed , the electric blanket and I 'd only just had it serviced and that went , that was the second May and the third May we were going on an outing me and erm Arthur that was lodging with me and he , we got out of the taxi at Parndon and it , he just collapsed and died at me feet so that 's the , that was the end of that and I 've been living here you know , since he went , and erm I used to be able to get anywhere with one stick cos I had arthritis in this right hip you see , I could get anywhere with one stick in the taxi , or anywhere and I went to my son 's , er which is now coming , I 've been here about twelve years in this bungalow , er eight years erm , eight years ago in No this November gone , I went down to my son 's , it was rather slippery and he took me down in the car and I , as I got out erm the car I said to him mind it 's very slippery , he said I wo n't let you fall mother he said , so I went in , but as I came out with one stick he still had n't got anything down , you know , if it had been a , a sort of erm sand or something down I would n't of slipped and I got half way in his car and out I fell and caught this left hip on the step , on the step and I dislocated my hip and it 's right out of the socket like that , it should be , and I ca n't have it put back because I 've had several coronaries in my life time and I can not have it put back you see |
| 30 | You used to be able to get odd knick nacks in there now it is just like any other store and we have enough up market stores in Thame . |