Example sentences of "[modal v] to be " in BNC.

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31 ‘ England is an island without sea , or else an island that used to be sea-bound , only so long ago that the sea 's now evaporated . ’
32 If you are turned down for a grant or loan or you are unhappy with the amount given , there is no right of appeal to an independent tribunal as there used to be .
33 The process has evolved over the decade with the linking up of what used to be short runs into long , cross-country routes .
34 One of the finest examples used to be de Valois ' dance for the Three Comforters in Job .
35 Built in 1903 it has bronze and marble panels in an Art Nouveau style depicting the friars from the monastery that used to be on the site .
36 The most popular size used to be the 4½in ( 108mm ) square tile , still available in a limited number of ranges , but displaced from the No 1 position by larger 152mm ( 6in ) square tiles , which are quicker to fix ( you need only 44 to cover a square metre of wall , compared with 86 of the smaller tiles , and there 's less grouting to do as well ) .
37 This used to be a perception shared with Protestants .
38 The finest rice in all China used to be grown in fields around the village of Shatin , in Hong Kong 's New Territories .
39 IT USED to be an easy decision , and still is for many racing fans — the first weekend in October is the time to visit Paris .
40 The gift-shop used to be a farmhouse , one of several owned by the skinflint farmer Boris who made his fortune by never paying bills .
41 ON FARM after farm around us the potato harvest is coming in — but the lifting of spuds is not what it used to be .
42 Nicholas Roe , a writer who used to be a fishmonger , says : ‘ I seemed to spend more time sending fish back than selling it .
43 Where the eye often used to be bruised by hectic entrances and exits , Page now keeps his dancers on the stage , shifting them around in complex patterns or gathering them up in long architectural phrases .
44 The party 's just begun for Democrats in New Jersey : New Jersey used to be the butt of TV comics .
45 The substantive work has consequently shifted from the party headquarters , where all decisions used to be made , to the conference hall and the corridors .
46 Llanelli 's 14-12 win was also a reminder of what used to be .
47 But the mainstream of calligraphy used to be a movement that firmly set modernism aside and as a result virtually vanished as a serious art school discipline after the 1960s .
48 The deal was won by TVMM against strong competition from Scottish Televison , which used to be part of the same organisation as Grampian .
49 But , while he is of Le Patron Mange Ici school ( which always used to be the sign of a good restaurant ) , I ca n't see that it would have been particularly good for business here .
50 Appropriate too , because the sudden greening of British politics , the rediscovery of the quality of life ( QOL , as it used to be known among Labour ministers on a previous incarnation ) introduces a catalytic ingredient into the brew known as Thatcherism .
51 His great strength is that he looks a small-'c' conservative , with that appealing moderation which used to be thought Tory .
52 If the county championship was still there as it used to be , then I could pick only northern-based players and in two or three years I 'd have a very strong side . ’
53 ISC used to be run as a state-within-a-state by James Guerin , its founder , until his forced departure from the group in May .
54 THE WELSH used to be a hindrance rather than a help to the All Blacks but , by giving Grant Fox permission to practise his goalkicking at the Arms Park prior to tomorrow 's game with Cardiff , they might be contributing to their own downfall .
55 Or it used to be so .
56 This particular store in Clapham 's Abbeville Road used to be an ordinary branch of Thresher .
57 But it seems a shame not to challenge yourself because other people say you 're not as good as you used to be .
58 There used to be a woman sergeant in [ place ] who used to refer to the reserve men as ‘ dick-head reserve men ’ , ‘ fucking idiots ’ , till one day this reserve man says to her , ‘ See that man over there , before he came to this job he was a aircraft technician , [ name ] used to be a chief mechanic .
59 There used to be a woman sergeant in [ place ] who used to refer to the reserve men as ‘ dick-head reserve men ’ , ‘ fucking idiots ’ , till one day this reserve man says to her , ‘ See that man over there , before he came to this job he was a aircraft technician , [ name ] used to be a chief mechanic .
60 [ Name ] there used to be a architect and [ name ] has a degree in law . ’
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