Example sentences of "[noun] be [prep] [v-ing] [to-vb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | It has to be admitted that there are problems with trying to state what data are without appearing to stipulate their character in advance . |
| 2 | Propping up the pound is like trying to get water to run uphill . |
| 3 | Alas , being the best man at an actor 's wedding is like trying to direct an actor who wants to direct . |
| 4 | In January 1990 it became clear that donor countries were by threatening to cut the size of their aid programmes , placing pressure on the Sri Lankan government for an improvement in the country 's human rights record . |
| 5 | Meanwhile , Powell is off trying to survey the goddamn Grand Canyon , hiking up the side canyons , taking his frickin' measurements . |
| 6 | Squashing a bad girl is like trying to squash a bluebottle . |
| 7 | Not even my job is worth having to go through a repeat of that ! ’ |
| 8 | Laser beams consist of photons which , though small by atomic standards , have a cumulative inertial effect , Dr Carl Wieman of the University of Colorado , who heads one research group , says that cooling an atom with a laser beam is like trying to slow down movement of a heavy object by bombarding it with ping-pong balls . |
| 9 | To ask us to strike meaningful comparisons across such a technological gulf is like trying to compare a theory of the origins of the universe based on observations through Galileo 's lens with one facilitated by radio telescope . |
| 10 | The idiom is worth learning to understand in order to develop a sense of how you should respond to the ( often hidden ) questions inside an examination or coursework question . |
| 11 | For all the thought that she had given to his ordinary life , Johnny could have been a milkman , for all she cared , or an Insurance broker working in the City , whose daily brush with danger was in trying to cross the road . |
| 12 | Trying to stay calm around Roman was like trying to count grains of sand on a beach … |
| 13 | Trying to raise efficiency and morale without first setting this structure to rights is like trying to lay bricks without mortar . |
| 14 | Building a complex structure by evolution is like trying to build a mortarless arch if you are allowed to touch only one stone at a time . |
| 15 | The emphasis is on reorganising to suit the sufferer 's own pattern of activity rather than making a radical change in a familiar landscape . |
| 16 | This year the emphasis is on trying to prevent lunchtime drink driving in an area where twenty two per cent of accidents occur between one thirty and four thirty in the afternoon . |
| 17 | We 're out to pass you really , but we we wo n't unless it 's worth it , but erm the emphasis is on trying to find something there to give a mark to sort of thing rather than the other way around . |
| 18 | Owen was for trying to get word through to Harry in his prison ; there were men in Leighton who had kin within the castle , and for the sake of Master Harry whom they remembered well might be willing to risk the carrying of a message . |
| 19 | His only chance of escape from that prospect is by opting to give and then in fact giving a replacement specimen of whichever kind the constable requires of him , subject only to his right to object to giving blood on medical grounds , and , if they are accepted by the doctor , then to give urine instead . |
| 20 | But , in a sense , all of life is about learning to cope with old age . |
| 21 | But his main preoccupation during the latter part of his life was in attempting to obtain the public recognition which he felt he had been denied . |
| 22 | In what should have been a single sketch here protracted over two debilitating hours the only observable success was in managing to incite a young child in the audience to enquire with regular insistence : ‘ What 's going on Mum ? ’ |
| 23 | The folly was in failing to realise that more could have been achieved for the nation , within the EEC , by protecting regional interests , than could possibly be achieved for the regions by protecting national interests . |
| 24 | Training is about trying to put the component parts together — the physical and the mental , working towards an agility in both . |
| 25 | Acquiring status is about learning to influence others and to feel in control of situations . |
| 26 | This book is about learning to enjoy eating without feeling guilty , and getting slim and healthy in the process . |
| 27 | If not , the risk is of expanding to bust . |
| 28 | He goes on to say , " But the risk is worth taking to show how rich and suggestive this poetry is . " |
| 29 | Many people think it is hard to assess whether a building is worth preserving and ask what the criteria are for trying to save it . |
| 30 | My last memory is of trying to mime Rare Gynaecological Disorders , preparatory to attempting Toxic Shock Syndrome . |