Example sentences of "[noun] [pers pn] [vb past] [adv] been able " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | No wonder she had n't been able to find the door handle . |
| 2 | Even just now , when for a moment she had not been able to remember what day it was , and when Faith Lavender had already been dead a week . |
| 3 | In six years she had never been able to cultivate that devil-may-care attitude that seemed to characterise the gentleman at the Feathers . |
| 4 | From somewhere in the back Cecilia could hear that sound she had never been able to identify and had not liked to ask about , a regular screeching as made by a bird in a zoo . |
| 5 | In his arms , pressed close against the hard , powerful body she 'd never been able to banish from her mind , she forgot everything but him , knew nothing but the agonising joy of being in his arms . |
| 6 | For forty years he had n't been able to bring himself to venture into it again . |
| 7 | I could say some of the things I had n't been able to say when I left him , because I had n't shared his feelings then . |
| 8 | She needed several things she had not been able to bring away from the Holborn house ; chemises , petticoats , nightgowns , drawers , a frilled nightcap that had taken her fancy , stockings , handkerchiefs . |
| 9 | Since that day she had not been able to sleep , or to think straight . |
| 10 | But that first day they had only been able to afford two bottles of Anjou rosè . |
| 11 | There were pauses , then he banged the keys plaintively , going over the passages he had n't been able to get right , then suddenly he put on a record of the Chopin and played along with it , always two or three notes behind . |
| 12 | In his researches at Wimbledon Public Library he had not been able to find any really cheering quotations on the subject of death . |
| 13 | Thanks to Karen 's attack I had n't been able to pee , and when my organ switched from reproductive to urinary mode I realized that my bladder was bursting . |
| 14 | And when she had helped Carole to put Emma and Sophie to bed she had n't been able to prevent tears coming to her eyes while she had listened to them solemnly saying their prayers . |
| 15 | Fabia returned to her room admitting today — where for some unknown reason she had n't been able to admit yesterday — that yes , she was attracted by him , and yes , she did feel drawn to him . |
| 16 | From Pepita 's symptoms he had rapidly been able to diagnose what kind of spider had bitten her and administer the antidote to its poison . |
| 17 | J. Roberts regretted that due to his many commitments he had not been able to play as active a role in the Society during the past year as he would have wished . |
| 18 | ‘ And you , ’ I asked , hungry to question a culture I had only been able to observe , ‘ what do you consider yourself to be ? ’ |
| 19 | They wanted to reopen Sadler 's Wells with Carmen , Aida , Trovatore , operas they had n't been able to perform during the war . |
| 20 | For a long time she had not been able to face many of her friends . |
| 21 | The effect of such correction can , in some instances , be dramatic , as in the case of a child who , after receiving his first pair of spectacles , spent several evenings looking at the stars as it was the first time he had ever been able to see them . |
| 22 | In the three days since his interview with the Bishop he had scarcely been able to speak for the bitterness of his blighted hopes . |