Example sentences of "could not [verb] [conj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | He stopped every now and then to listen to the patient lapping of the water , the light breeze in the leaves , scurries and sounds in the wood which he could not identify but which helped to reinforce the solitude he needed . |
| 2 | As an air-raid had just begun they could not leave and had to remain in an ambience where , as they now acutely realised , they were not wanted and did not belong . |
| 3 | Since , the " Commando " had a clear warning that the contents should not be used after a certain time , this was deemed to put the plaintiff on notice not to use the herbicide and he could not complain that his own misunderstanding of the consequences of ignoring the warning had rendered the herbicide unfit for the purpose which it was supplied . |
| 4 | Labour could not complain if the press pointed out that higher-rate taxpayers would be worse off under John Smith 's budget plans . |
| 5 | I could not speak nor breathe , and fell on to the sofa . |
| 6 | I could not speak although I was conscious . |
| 7 | She could not speak or understand much , and her character was greatly changed . |
| 8 | She was conscious , but could not speak because of the gash at her throat . |
| 9 | At first I could not speak because I hated him so much . |
| 10 | William Agnew , although he could not speak and relied entirely on sign language , was a forceful personality and moved about amongst the rich merchants of Glasgow . |
| 11 | Throughout his life , Agnew could not speak and relied entirely on sign language and fingerspelling , but was a highly articulate man — he penned a great number of articles in Scottish and national newspapers giving his views on the introduction of oralism into British schools . |
| 12 | He could not speak and he would not make any gesture that would show weakness . |
| 13 | My father , my mother and I were often asked to spend Sunday afternoons in the country , but sometimes , unless a horse and cart were sent to collect us , we could not go because the families who invited us lived too far away . |
| 14 | ‘ I asked him why and he said because he could not talk or swallow , ’ she said at the time . |
| 15 | When she came to Calvary , ‘ she fell down because she could not stand or kneel , and rolled and wrested with her body , spreading her arms abroad ’ , because she had a vision , or hallucination , of the Crucifixion . |
| 16 | Decio where the courts ruled that a corporation could not recover unless it first proved that it had in fact been injured by the insider 's illicit trading . |
| 17 | Catherine Johns of the Museum 's Prehistoric and Romano-British department could not speculate as to the possible country of origin of the spoon . |
| 18 | Clegg also said he could not estimate whether the speed of the approaching stolen car was closer to 20 or 50mph . |
| 19 | In former days this emotional moment could not arise because archbishops had little say in the choice of bishops and no say at all in the choice of their successor . |
| 20 | If Ministers were tempted to give undertakings to the Committee , on which unfortunately I could not serve because I was dealing with other orders such as the Scottish seed potato order at the time , what has happened is a bit below the belt . |
| 21 | Creggan had never in his short life felt so desolate , and try as he did he could not rest and fall asleep . |
| 22 | Creggan could not rest or sleep , for out of the racing seas beneath their stance seemed to come troubled memories and images of a place where he once was , and eagles he once knew . |
| 23 | They recall the occasion when , as a boy , he had read in an epigraph two lines from Henry King 's " Exequy " — and how he could not rest until he had found and read the poem entire . |
| 24 | For production could not continue unless the proletariat were ideologically conditioned in each generation to submit to the rules of the established order within which production occurs . |
| 25 | Nelson Mandela , the newly elected ANC president [ see p. 38324 ] , said that talks with the government could not continue while the government conducted " a double strategy of talking peace but waging war " against the ANC . |
| 26 | It became obvious to everyone that the Tournament could not continue and after another undue delay , the Earl of Eglinton announced that it was cancelled for the day . |
| 27 | In August 1988 , when W. was 12 , it was appreciated that this fostering arrangement could not continue and she and the other children were moved to new foster parents . |
| 28 | In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in Scotland , the teenager alleges that after more than a year of taunting and physical attack she could not continue and left the Royal High School . |
| 29 | Lists of players who had gone to the front were now being compiled , and by Aug 1915 Crawford himself realised that things could not continue as they were . |
| 30 | She could not move until he released her . |