Example sentences of "[verb] been at [adj] [noun] " in BNC.

  Previous page   Next page
No Sentence
31 At the same time the council in England believed that the king 's familiares were exercising undue influence over him : the unity which Edward had been at such pains to build up in 1337 was on the point of fracturing .
32 On the one hand this expansion offered for the first time a substantial number of teaching posts which together formed a fully-integrated career structure , and on the other it considerably lessened the security of both the " historical " and " critical " paradigms for which Bateson had been at such pains to seek some form of mutual accommodation .
33 He had been at such pains .
34 He went on to say that they had been at great pains to build up an efficient fifth-column unit and should not be expected to give up their best men as soon as they were trained .
35 At Pemberley the ‘ many family portraits … could have little to fix the attention of a stranger ’ ; at Sotherton they are ‘ no longer any thing to any body but Mrs Rushworth , who had been at great pains to learn all that the housekeeper could teach ’ .
36 I had been at great pains to appear distant towards him and been more successful than I had thought I could be .
37 The Reverend Peter Brown , Convener of the Social Matters Committee for the Orkney Presbytery , began to investigate the actions of the Evangelical Charismatic Movement in Orkney , and whether any members of the Orkney Christian Fellowship had been at that seminar .
38 Eight hundred youngsters had been at that rave .
39 According to these ladies , I had been at certain times a pirate , a builder , a healer , a spiritual teacher , a red Indian and a nun .
40 Ghandi , I think , in the early eighties epitomised , to a large degree , and attitude of concern about erm violence , and I think that in some large measure the sort of recognition that it gained , particularly in the awards and so on , had a lot to do with its subject matter as against it 's actual execution , and I think that if it had been at another time , or if the subject matter had n't been erm quite as powerful as that old genius 's life was , I do n't think it would have won the awards .
41 All the dancing that she had ever done had been at three school dances , and in sessions for instruction in the art of the polka , the mazurka , and the tarantella , and she did not think they would be much help to her now .
42 It is a decay that became inevitable when the infamous Beeching Plan substituted the crass motif of economic viability for that of communal need , and ripped out the steel vertebrae of the nation , leaving whole areas more isolated than they had been at any time since the eighteenth century .
43 But Alicia Lockwood at seventy-nine had been as strong-willed as she had been at any time of her life .
44 This did not mean a dramatic drop in popularity : indeed , his approval rating was higher in 1966 and early 1967 than it had been at any point since the Algerian crisis .
45 Even Boddy , who had been telling Westerman as they came down the stairs how he had been at Bad Godesberg in 1938 just two days after Hitler and Chamberlain had left , trailed away into silence .
46 He had been at this cure for a mere four years but his reputation was growing fast .
47 Parents Zoe , 17 , and Jason , 18 , of Huddersfield , West Yorks , had been at eight-month-old Liam 's bedside since the op at St James 's Hospital , Leeds .
48 Ever since he had been at high school he 'd found some enjoyment and relief by getting back at them in ways they obviously did n't expect .
49 Although reveille had been at 0400 hours , the landing would not be made until first light at 0850 .
50 Of the twenty non-royal knights who processed into the chapel , all except for the two former Labour prime ministers had been at public schools .
51 Twelve minutes from time Weir had the misfortune to turn a John Eggleston short corner drive into his own net after Raphoe keeper Davy Buchanan had been at full stretch .
52 Middlesbrough had been at full stretch against Cambridge 's direct , high-ball game and their own attack posed little threat in the first half .
53 Espey had been at United Distillers since 1986 , most recently as chairman of its North American operation , where he oversaw its acquisition of Glenmore Distilleries ( MW July 19 , 1991 ) and the division 's subsequent reorganisation .
54 And it 's er er we go to Ffestiniog power station to have a drink and then come to er er well we 've been at Royal Hotel at Betsy-Coed these last years or two .
55 Now remember I am the leader of a party that has been in the front line against his violence for twenty years , and have been at many risks , as have been members of my party , but when I say that that dialogue is the best hope they 've seen for peace for twenty years .
56 They have been at each others ' throats .
57 They have been at each others ' throats .
58 They have been at each others ' throats .
59 Supporters of gun control are in a stronger position now than they have been at any time since 1968 , after the shootings of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy .
60 Because of the repayments that were made of borrowing during that period , in the midst of a recession we are now in a better position to borrow prudently — than we have been at any stage in the past : to borrow prudently and to maintain our commitment to a balanced budget in the medium term .
  Previous page   Next page