Example sentences of "have been a [adj] [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | It did n't really matter , their expressions seemed to say , he might as well have been a short-order cook or a deep-sea diver or a male prostitute . |
| 2 | ‘ Vicar In A Tutu ’ was pure Carry On camp , an unashamedly silly romp , throwing the listener off balance and hardly in a fit state to take ‘ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out ’ , the true pinnacle of the album and the track that , if Mr Shankly had had his way , would have been a classic single . |
| 3 | Blossom would have been a suitable name for the large oilman who arrived in a huge lorry to deliver the central heating oil . |
| 4 | The main room or ‘ house ’ , where the family gathered and worked and where the fire never went out , would not have been a suitable place for storage . |
| 5 | It must have been a strange sight in a land of Celtic war chiefs , dressed in Highland-type garb , to see the proud , aristocratic De Cuellar in fine Spanish attire , pulling a face as he sipped the O'Rourke potheen and thought of his native wine . |
| 6 | It must have been a strange experience for him , Rufus had thought , knowing he owned all sorts of things but not knowing quite what or where they were . |
| 7 | If she and Lowell had had a child it would have been a strange hybrid , perhaps difficult to love . |
| 8 | Strach 's looking tired and rocky would at least have been a reasonable replacement , White is more of a winger/ striker than a creative midfield player . |
| 9 | Strach 's looking tired and rocky would at least have been a reasonable replacement , White is more of a winger/ striker than a creative midfield player . |
| 10 | This may have been a reasonable starting assumption for the initial round of forecasts made in 1985 , but it is not adequate now . |
| 11 | She had not specified , but somewhere around four thirty to five would have been a reasonable time to return . |
| 12 | Aesop must have been a keen observer of natural animal rhythms . |
| 13 | may have been a professional slip of the tongue i in saying that now be up to Labour , it is not up to Labour at all , it is up to all of u , it is up to all of us , it is up to all of us all , and you and you and you , you ca n't dump responsibility , it is up to all of us , all of us |
| 14 | The truth was Denis O'Neil Senior could well have been a professional singer . |
| 15 | The premature end to what could have been a professional ballet career meant that Carol at least had more time to devote to the blossoming courtship with a young accountant , Ron Minogue . |
| 16 | ‘ And marriage itself might have been a useful bit of insurance for Gustav : her relatives or guardians would have been less likely to inform on her husband than on some passing stranger who could get his trousers open in Olympic time . ’ |
| 17 | The Maggot , faced with these scathing judgments , countered by asserting that Ellen 's education had ruined what might otherwise have been a useful bimbo , and loudly proclaimed that her extreme aversion to himself was positive psychological proof that she was secretly enamoured of him . |
| 18 | Well , the latter must have been a useful accomplishment in MI6 , likewise , fleetness of foot — he won a school race in 1950 . |
| 19 | For foot traffic , a distance of some 10–12 km ( 6–7 miles ) would probably have been a more-than-adequate day 's journey , especially if burdened with goods and needing to leave enough time for their disposal at the destination . |
| 20 | Even if Robbie had been in the mood for laughter , it would have been a cynical mirth . |
| 21 | It would have been a perfect day at Hereford Regatta , but for an unwelcome visitor . |
| 22 | As solid as a rock and a very tough competitor , Clohessy would have been a perfect choice , particularly after going through the pre-Tour fitness regime . |
| 23 | He has a deep religious conviction , which tends towards the ecumenical , and this would have been a perfect expression of his beliefs and also a personal and rewarding spiritual experience . |
| 24 | I felt the most awful failure , and thought that perhaps if we could try again — since the thing was done , the point of no return passed — we might arrange things better , somehow recapture the basis of feeling we had had , which should have been a perfect foundation for a love-affair , but which we had somehow bungled and thrown away . |
| 25 | Inglewood must have been a perfect foil for the grand civic buildings of Liverpool , with its open timber balcony on the south side overlooking terraced and formal gardens laid out in the ‘ Old English ’ style . |
| 26 | Quite a few prominent people were to pay for that series defeat and it must have been a cruel disappointment for Mains that he was among those replaced . |
| 27 | ‘ I never wanted to leave Wigan — it would have been a downward step — but at the same time it had to be right for me . |
| 28 | It has been plausibly argued that the cutting of the folds ( which is very shallow ) was done during a retouching of the colour ( something which must have been a regular operation ; on colour see below , p. 28 ) . |
| 29 | Police believe the weapon may have been a standard cartridge shotgun , specially adapted to fire bullets . |
| 30 | Part of the idea may have been a selfish desire to limit citizenship to as few people as possible , now that it brought greater material advantages . |