Example sentences of "had not been for " in BNC.
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| 31 | Perhaps I might have recognized my own hypocrisy , if it had not been for Richard 's behaviour in the next months . |
| 32 | ‘ Sir , ’ he said to the court , ‘ I would be a dead man by now if it had not been for this gentleman . ’ |
| 33 | In one case , it was said that ‘ it was the 15-year-old girl who was the dominant partner in the relationship ’ with a 28-year-old woman separated from her husband , while in the other case ‘ a pretty 15-year-old schoolgirl skipped lessons to have a lesbian love affair ’ ; however the defence counsel said that her mother had told police she thought there was nothing wrong with a lesbian relationship and ‘ if it had not been for the age of the young lady , none of us would be here today ’ . |
| 34 | He was , by one account , " shattered by grief and almost despair " after Vivien 's death and , if it had not been for John Hayward 's help and encouragement , would have retired into complete seclusion . |
| 35 | Hardwick 's involvement might have ended there , if it had not been for one of the tradesmen , who addressed a petition to the Company nine months later : his original estimate of £2,514 18 1¼d had left him bearing a loss of £266 6 3¾d . |
| 36 | Seen from below , Lacuna 's long body would have looked comical as she ran back and forth , if it had not been for the grimace of rage that contorted her white face . |
| 37 | It would not have been terrible — only like Frank — if it had not been for the pain of stones , metal , pressed into soft skin . |
| 38 | If it had not been for Elizabeth taking her in off the streets and giving her a home , then Tilly 's own life would have been empty . |
| 39 | Sarah and Terry had no alternative but she and John could have had months of courtship before he went away if it had not been for his stubbornness . |
| 40 | Brian had given Scarlet the impression that , if it had not been for his first wife and her child , and his second wife and her child , he would have been living a life of carefree splendour in a house adjacent to the park . |
| 41 | Floy thought he would have rather enjoyed this journey if it had not been for the nagging concern about Fenella , left behind in the giants ' hands . |
| 42 | It had not been for her . |
| 43 | Although a rich resource for trivialisation by the media , the women 's movement in the 1970s succeeded in making issues to do with women 's rights visible in ways they had not been for over sixty years . |
| 44 | Stan might truly have forgotten if it had not been for the crash of the falling chair . |
| 45 | He guided Alexandra out of the kitchen and along a passage so dark that if it had not been for his hand on her elbow , she would not have known where she was going . |
| 46 | The whole room , scented with the Christmas goose , seemed to glimmer with warmth and merriment and if it had not been for fear of distressing the children , Alexandra would have been happy to burst into tears . |
| 47 | If it had not been for my brother , the Odonata would have drowned , just as the turtle-shaped biped drowned . |
| 48 | If it had not been for the circumstance of his being away , I should not be here now . ’ |
| 49 | And equally clearly , concealed in the base of the box , it had not been for public view . |
| 50 | But she brought them because it salved her conscience to bring something , and she had not been for two weeks now . |
| 51 | But everything else had been alive and splendid in a way it had not been for years . |
| 52 | If it had not been for their long , soul-searching conversations about the Koran and the life of the Prophet , he would probably not , now , be sleeping with her . |
| 53 | ‘ I would never have been a dancer or believed I could do anything if it had not been for him , ’ said Crawford . |
| 54 | Interestingly enough Larry Witty , the General Secretary of the Labour Party , said at last year 's Labour Party Conference that if it had not been for the steadily , steady influence of the unions during the eighties , when the Party was tearing itself in two , we would not have a Labour Party today . |
| 55 | If it had not been for him we would all be dead and there would n't be anybody telling this . |
| 56 | If it had not been for Jeremy 's displays of speed , power and massive wheelies , backed up by a courageous Robert Holden , these races would have been pretty flat beer . |
| 57 | ‘ If it had not been for Tracy , I would not be a professional footballer any more . |
| 58 | ‘ If it had not been for ( my wife ) Tracy , I would not be a professional any more . |
| 59 | If it had not been for Adam 's quick eyes we might never have seen anything amiss . |
| 60 | And , if it had not been for the speedy response from the coastguard , the boys would have found themselves out in the open sea . |