Example sentences of "[pron] could [not/n't] [be] [adj] " in BNC.
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1 | I , I could n't be adamant about the date of those but er c the reason that motor buses came in is because it was too costly to extend trolley bus routes . |
2 | I could n't be nice if I , I 've been an absolute swine today ! |
3 | I could n't be bored here if I tried . ’ |
4 | I could n't be sorry for her , but I could n't tell her he was right . |
5 | I could n't be nasty and do that . |
6 | I could n't be certain how much painkilling medication she had taken , but it was almost certainly not enough . |
7 | I could n't be certain they were n't involved somehow in the diversion . |
8 | I could n't be certain , not having observed him closely before , but either Mr Broadhurst was not like other old people , or else he was n't really old at all . |
9 | I could n't be certain but in the hubbub that followed ( shrieked squeaks and ‘ hahas ’ from the audience ) I thought I heard a definite mechanical ‘ click ’ , but when the stage lights came up again , nothing had happened . |
10 | Just before I snapped out of it , aborted the failed trance , I thought I saw — although I could n't be certain — the ragged hole in the beard through which Gyggle addressed the world unravel a little at its edge , exposing a slug side of what might have been Gyggle 's lip . |
11 | I could n't be sure how , but felt that a truth had been revealed . |
12 | It might have been a Seiko , but I could n't be sure . |
13 | His teeth did n't fit awfully well , so I could n't be sure . |
14 | I could n't be sure . |
15 | ‘ It was so misty up there , I could n't be sure of anything . ’ |
16 | as if I suddenly knew I could n't be sure of anything any more . ’ |
17 | Although I did what I could to try to conceive a girl , I could n't be sure that I had . |
18 | Fifteen years on , I could n't be sure of that intellectually , but the instinct still says I 'm right . |
19 | I said I was rather tied up at the school over most week-ends ; though the half-term holiday was the week-end after next and I might just be in Athens then — but I could n't be sure . |
20 | I thought once or twice that I saw a glint of sardonic amusement in Conchis 's eyes , but I could n't be sure . |
21 | Never — I could n't be sure I 'd get it right . |
22 | But it was so fleeting I could n't be sure . |
23 | There had n't been a show , I had no contractions and I could n't be sure that my waters had broken . ’ |
24 | I think he was trying out his thought-control on me , though I could n't be sure . |
25 | You see , I needed to see you away from the château , and I could n't be sure you 'd come with me today . |
26 | Astonishment at her legacies — genuine , I 'd say , though I could n't be sure ; she 's a deep one . |
27 | I could n't be sure on that point |
28 | I knew you were protecting someone , but I could n't be sure who . |
29 | Your inexperience told me that you must be in love with me — but I could n't be sure . |
30 | ‘ I could n't be cruel to him if he was n't here , could I ? ’ said Lydia reasonably , but she was beginning to regain her temper . |