Example sentences of "could not [verb] [adv] [pron] " in BNC.
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| 31 | erm In fact a simple formulation of this problem occurs in the opening paragraphs of À la Recherche , erm when the narrator writes this : ‘ When I woke in the middle of the night , I could not tell where I was , just as I did not know at first who I was . |
| 32 | And she could not sort out her brain while he stood less than a foot away , watching her with eyes that gave away nothing of his own thoughts . |
| 33 | And he , too , when asked , gave the angel some fruit from his share , explaining that he could not give away his brothers ' pears . |
| 34 | This was clearly shown in Case 28/84 Commission v. Germany , where the animal foodstuffs directives , which , as mentioned in the previous paragraph , had been held not to preclude health inspections under national law , were found to create a comprehensive system with regard to the composition and preparation of animal foodstuffs , so that Germany could not lay down its own rules on minimum and maximum levels of certain ingredients . |
| 35 | Obviously the old bookmakers pitches could not stay where they were and had to be moved . |
| 36 | Catherine 's parents could not explain why she was in the car at the time . |
| 37 | He could not explain why he ran or why he and David abandoned a car a few minutes later a mile from the town centre . |
| 38 | But science could not explain why it was as it was just after the big bang . |
| 39 | A MAN whose driving manoeuvre ended in the deaths of his wife and mother-in-law could not explain how his car was hit by a truck . |
| 40 | I could not explain how I felt other than very special . |
| 41 | Crookes could not explain satisfactorily what was happening , but Stokes and others involved with the dynamical theory of gases were ultimately able to account for it in terms of collisions and energy . |
| 42 | They had some Lewes bombs , but no detonators , and thus could not carry out their mission . |
| 43 | To touch a dead man or to come into contact with the blood of an injured person would make them unclean and mean that they could not carry out their duties . |
| 44 | Without that money we would not carry on and we could not carry out our work effectively . |
| 45 | Sometimes , he really wanted to abandon her , yet looking at her now he could not imagine why he ever felt that way . |
| 46 | She employed a series of nets in her art that seemed so insubstantial , Cleo could not imagine how anything as ephemeral as a spirit — which surely lacked substance in a material sense could be entrapped within them . |
| 47 | Hank could not imagine how she managed to look so elegant in such an outfit ; the concepts of breeding and natural grace were unknown to him , and the quiet air of command she had scared him slightly . |
| 48 | I felt aggrieved at this because I had not worked with the sister during my placement , and could not imagine how she could possibly assess my work and capability . |
| 49 | It seemed to Alexei as he considered it that a great deal of effort must be required to sustain such a relationship , and he could not imagine how his father could be bothered with it , or how the women could be content . |
| 50 | It was very full although I could not see properly what was in it because he kept the opening away from me . |
| 51 | Sam could not see exactly what they were , but he knew that they would be lions with their heads between their paws . |
| 52 | I could not see exactly what was in them but it was more than curiosity . |
| 53 | She could not see why her mother wanted her , nor what she expected her to do in Northam , and whenever she mentioned the subject to others they exclaimed in horror , commiserating with her , telling her that she must be firm , never for half a moment assuming that she could or would really do it . |
| 54 | She quoted to me an odd and illuminating point , that if he wanted to take a bath when he was with friends , he could not see why they should not all be in the bath together , boys and girls , black and white . |
| 55 | The authority to issue cattle vouchers enhanced the power and status of a headman , but many of those assigned to this task could not see why they should take the trouble to inquire into the origins of the cattle concerned . |
| 56 | As Clare staggered , her arms dropped and her banner wrapped around her head : she could not see where she was going . |
| 57 | One advantage of the appalling route was that it offered no temptation to diverge from it — since I could not see where I was going anyway , the only thing to do was to follow the compass , and I had waded ditches as I came to them instead of attempting to find easier crossing places . |
| 58 | Nevertheless , Charlotte could not see how their enquiries were to be taken forward . |
| 59 | Yeah yeah well you see what he said was he could not see how they could warrant him that sixty odd come as interest justify doing it . |
| 60 | They could not see how one so patently spiritual in his emphases , so biblical in his references ( to both ‘ Old ’ and ‘ New ’ Testaments ) , could be so frank about his appreciation of female beauty and his corporeal appetites . |