Example sentences of "could [not/n't] [vb infin] " in BNC.
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| 31 | On the other hand , if ‘ the nation ’ — any nation — were not so vulnerable , its professional defenders could not skim off so much of its wealth as protection money . |
| 32 | Walesa , however , was concerned that Olszewski could not ensure the continuation of the economic reform programme or a stable parliamentary majority , and instead apparently snubbed the centre-right by appointing his former driver Mieczyslaw Wachowski to negotiate on Nov. 19 . |
| 33 | It was symptomatic rather than part of the train of thought that led to his decision : Britain , as a great power , could not leave her security in the hands of the Americans , who , however friendly , could veer so unpredictably from generous international collaboration to self-centred isolationism . |
| 34 | Yet half the names could not leave even if they wanted to : they are locked into the 58 ( out of a total of 401 ) Lloyd 's syndicates that have been unable to close one or more of their past annual accounts , so unquantifiable are the liabilities stacking up against them . |
| 35 | But having got so far , she could not leave it there . |
| 36 | He was not a tall man and was soon almost dwarfed by his five lively , wryly humorous sons , who avoided him as far as possible and could not leave home soon enough . |
| 37 | She asked him why he could not leave her alone , in view of what the other man had already done to her , but he turned off the lights and told her to undress . |
| 38 | LATE at night an elderly woman rang Christine Hall to say that she had refused much-needed hospital treatment because she could not leave her dog , Holly . |
| 39 | Berthe Weill protested that she could not leave the gallery for the moment , she had n't the time , there were all the guests to look after . |
| 40 | Clearly I could not leave the story as it was , with the wrong nickname . |
| 41 | Even if you were only a few hundred miles away instead of a few thousand I could not leave her . |
| 42 | Once a country joined the EEC , it could not leave , said the politicians . |
| 43 | Jack Carey , an old friend of the family , had wanted to marry Susan years ago ; but she , of course , could not leave her father . |
| 44 | She could not leave the house as she was in the middle of making our evening meal . |
| 45 | She could not leave it . |
| 46 | He was appearing in Channel 4 's recording of comic Jack Dee 's Christmas show when police said they could not leave . |
| 47 | Once back upstairs in the box , he could not leave the mystery alone and his mind conjured up all sorts of solutions but analysing them brought no relief . |
| 48 | In 1988 , the country was seen to be losing some of its best and brightest people , which further demoralised those who could not leave . |
| 49 | Hebbert and McFall do , Hebbert decided , and he persuaded his partner they could not leave it at that after such a long flog up the mountainside . |
| 50 | After returning the painting to the icon shop , the dealer subsequently received two contradictory letters , the first stating that ‘ his ’ Wtewael had been placed on the national index of important works of art that could not leave Germany , and the follow-up , which noted that the Wtewael had been taken off the index , and that it could , therefore , be exported . |
| 51 | At the end of a taxing day on Twistleton Scar in Yorkshire , I could not leave before crowning the day with an ascent of the notoriously polished Candle Crack — only to skid like a bemused Bambi on ice and slither to the rocky moorland beneath . |
| 52 | Alice thought she could not leave her only child , her baby daughter , that she might never see again , without holding her once more , without at least giving her a last kiss . |
| 53 | They affected to despise her , but they did not find their contempt a strain , whereas the other really bad disciplinarian in the school , a Geography mistress , one Miss Riley , inflicted on them an intolerable suffering , for they felt themselves compelled to torment her , and she would sit before them , thin and pretty and anguished , making vain attempts to restore order , miserably transparent in her misery , and unable to conceal the depths of her humiliation — depths which frightened them , but which they could not leave unplumbed . |
| 54 | They could not leave it because their reproductive processes depended on it . |
| 55 | 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 . |
| 56 | Even then , though , firms would have to balance the advantages of a central location against those of decentralization : some clothing firms , for instance , could not leave London because of their need to be near the fashion market . |
| 57 | She would not , could not leave him for this boy ! |
| 58 | He could not leave her here even had he the courage to go up into that vast nothingness above … |
| 59 | I could not leave him now . |
| 60 | I had reached the door , but I could not leave . |