Example sentences of "[conj] [was/were] it not for " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | He also held , dubiously , that were it not for the corruptions imposed by state and law , men would develop bonds of instinctive solidarity which would make government unnecessary . |
| 2 | It is tempting to speculate that were it not for the onset of the protracted illness in February 1858 Which led to his death in September 1859 , his influence might have produced a very different outcome to the competition . |
| 3 | Then Baldwin saw him again and told hint that were it not for his age and his health ( neither of which had greatly changed in the preceding forty-eight hours ) , he would have offered him the vacancy , but as it was it had better go to Eden . |
| 4 | It is our understanding that were it not for the contact that was made by the state lottery with Scientific Games , that they would be a bidder , the Scientific Games system is a good system . |
| 5 | It is strange to consider that were it not for the intervention of Conservative industrialists , the proposals in this Bill could have been far worse . |
| 6 | It should be pointed out , though , that were it not for the attacks through evolutionary time of these herbivores , there would be none of the commercially significant heartwoods , latexes and resins so useful to humans . |
| 7 | Some forms ( Turrilites ) adopted the helical spire , and were it not for the obligatory suture lines it might be possible to mistake these species for large gastropods . |
| 8 | Hill farming demands very hard work for marginal returns and were it not for government subsidies for hill sheep and cattle , many hill farmers would have to give up . |
| 9 | The top is not visible from the road , and were it not for a sizeable cairn you could miss it altogether . |
| 10 | I fancy that across the channel where Napoleon 's wars were ravaging all Europe , our two innkeepers fell flat as pancakes , and were it not for the felicities of their translator they would scarcely be worth comment . |
| 11 | ‘ She is unwomanly , ’ Zurachina said , as if she anticipated his objections , ‘ and were it not for her beauty I would wish that she had been born a man . ’ |
| 12 | No mean problem , this , in a time largely deafened to such sober music , and were it not for the incomparable examples of Spenser and Milton , he might finally have despaired ; but what they in their day had achieved for their grave themes ought ( he had long believed ) to be possible for the richer store of myth and symbol at his disposal ; and now the lines had begun to move with the majesty he desired . |
| 13 | In this fieldworker 's experience , boundaries between parishes are frequently very unimpressive , often no different to general field boundaries in the vicinity , and were it not for the fact that the boundary line is known , the field evidence would in many cases not suggest it . |
| 14 | But were it not for the perceived economic might of a more unified Economic Community , the dozen or so nations of the Pacific Rim , who have been meeting in Australia , might not have bothered . |