Example sentences of "[modal v] hardly have be a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | There could hardly have been a clearer contrast between the raw truth and the glossy image . |
| 2 | There could hardly have been a more blatant political manipulation of the public inquiry system in favour of the developer . |
| 3 | This was never well stocked and could hardly have been a goldmine . |
| 4 | Allott , also 35 , was recalled from holiday in Wales to discover his fate , but it could hardly have been a surprise as he has not regularly figured in Lancashire 's games this season . |
| 5 | Furthermore , the offer could hardly have been a surprise to him . |
| 6 | There could hardly have been a greater contrast than that between Kennedy and his successor . |
| 7 | As an example to the world that the young were powerful , that money was not the be-all and end-all , Apple could hardly have been a bigger failure . |
| 8 | As they stood together there could hardly have been a greater contrast . |
| 9 | He would hardly have been a natural companion for the Prime Minister , Mrs Baldwin and Tom Jones during a quiet evening of patience in the Long Gallery at Chequers . |
| 10 | When there were contractors to be handed out directors may have tried to help one another , but that can hardly have been a sufficient reason for buying up large blocks of shares . |
| 11 | She recovered — though the royal nursery in Linlithgow can hardly have been a peaceful place , with its occupant combining convalescence with the more normal infant problem of teething ; but she was entirely well by the time Sadler saw her again , in early August . |
| 12 | Nothing very dramatic here , then , but at least he was in the buying and selling game , not a wage slave , and there can hardly have been a time when it was not easier to sell the odd pork chop or two than it was to convince an employer that he ought to buy your skills as a craftsman . |
| 13 | The incident can hardly have been a minor affair . |
| 14 | For my part , there can hardly have been a day when I did not think of Eliot , when his growing prestige was not a source of immense satisfaction and pride to me , and when personal news about him , however brief , was more than welcome at such distance than propinquity without meeting would have been . |
| 15 | Certainly he never made any secret of his Conservative past , having twice stood unsuccessfully for parliament among the miners of County Durham , where his air of a slightly lost rural dean can hardly have been an asset . |
| 16 | Given the state of the war , the undeniable growth of anti-Nazi feeling , and the rising criticism of Hitler himself , which we have been able to document for the years 1942–4 , such reports can hardly have been an accurate reflection of existing attitudes . |