Example sentences of "not [verb] [noun] but [to-vb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | ‘ Fasting can be resorted to only against a lover , not to extort rights but to reform him , is when a son fasts for a father who drinks … |
| 2 | The ambassadors of Canada , France , the United States and Venezuela then successfully intervened and persuaded the coup leaders not to kill Aristide but to allow him to leave the country , in order to prevent widespread bloodshed . |
| 3 | On the 8th , Baldwin saw the King 's Private Secretary , Lord Stamfordham , and told him that although he ‘ had come to no decision ’ , his inclination was ‘ not to meet Parliament but to resign ’ . |
| 4 | The object was not to provide refreshment but to hold up the party for two or three minutes in order to get the press into position . |
| 5 | Mr Walker stated : ‘ The principal objective of the Directive is not to encourage production but to compensate farmers in order to ensure the continuation of farming . ’ |
| 6 | The main purpose of this procedure is not to initiate legislation but to generate publicity for a particular issue or to test the water to see if there is support for legislation in the future . |
| 7 | Companies do the latter not to avoid losses but to spread the impact to match their income , Mr Gluckstern reckoned . |
| 8 | The stoma care nurse encouraged him not to avoid foods but to monitor their effect on the colostomy action . |
| 9 | Not to give freebies but to invest in the workers of the future . |
| 10 | The press 's role is not to solve crime but to sell newspapers . |
| 11 | The true purpose of high interest rates now is not to reduce inflation but to maintain the position negotiated for sterling within the ERM . |
| 12 | The object of production under such circumstances is not to accumulate property but to make possible the continuation of the individual in society , since only as a member of society can one find meaning in human existence . |
| 13 | In this case , note that the essay goes on , The aim is not to apportion blame but to uncover the origins of racial stereotyping and how they have permeated English Literature . |
| 14 | I come not to bury Caesar but to praise ( bridegroom 's name ) . |
| 15 | Their effect would be not to stabilize output but to increase the fluctuations of output around its natural level — the precise opposite of what Keynesian policies aim to achieve . |
| 16 | Like the faith for which they argue , the best books are there not to collect dust but to stretch minds and to shed light . |
| 17 | It does not suffer from the bias factors operating when documentation is generated , not to regulate practice but to inform reviewers . |
| 18 | It was this fear , indeed , that lay behind the creation of the Charity Organisation Society , whose aim was not to prevent charity but to curb its excesses and ‘ irresponsible ’ hand-outs . |
| 19 | These , moreover , were designed not to prevent prostitution but to provide a degree of state regulation , with the aim of curtailing venereal disease . |
| 20 | It is not to produce publications but to inform and instruct the reader . |