Example sentences of "[pron] could only " in BNC.
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1 | If I could only resolve that lower right hand panel though , he wrote , or even decide once and for all to leave it empty , then perhaps the boredom would disappear . |
2 | Again , as I recorded in a fieldnote , this assistant chief exhibited aspects of what I could only then describe as ‘ institutional paranoia ’ , when he went on to deride an unnamed social scientist who had been allowed research facilities inside a police force ( unspecified ) . |
3 | Aisha 's insistent words in the grain store , as she shook her gold earrings and the bangles on her wrist , urging me to stay at home , but I could only gaze at her shoes and marvel at how exactly they matched her handbag . |
4 | But it was pointless trying to compare or liken these mountains to others , they had individual stature and grace , they rose with their own majesty from valleys I could only dream about . |
5 | I could only speculate whether the industrial activity required to produce the clock radio and the telephone they wanted to give me , and all the ongoing activity to service those industries and their customers , would not cause more pollution , lead to more acid rain , and so destroy more trees than the one they planned to plant for me . |
6 | There was a figure on either side of him but I could only see Charlie Vaughan . |
7 | I could only be of help . ’ |
8 | ‘ I was so cold I could only just press the stop button . |
9 | There had been long periods when I could only enter you and come in you by secretly pretending to myself that I did not know you , that you were a tart I had picked up in a bar — or on the street corner . |
10 | In the end , I could only escape by galloping off , leaving him in full flow , and diving into a shop . |
11 | Whether or not horses understand landing procedure ( they do n't smoke or have to cope with seat-belts ) , it occurred to me that we had taken a couple of bites at the cherry on our approach — I could only guess how near we came to dismantling the gateway to India , for there are no windows in those vehicles . |
12 | ‘ He 'd tied a black scarf , or a stocking , or something over his face , and I could only see his eyes between that and his hat brim . |
13 | And I could only say ‘ Yes ’ . |
14 | Our respective manners proved so widely different , that it would have been quite presumptuous in me to do anything but separate from an undertaking upon which I could only have been a clog . ’ |
15 | I no longer drank black coffee nor smoked , so I could only chew my almonds and sip my herb tea . |
16 | I could only confess that loss in sounds |
17 | But I could only attain to be thrilled and enchanted , as by the sound of a strain of music dying away . |
18 | I could only stand quietly and scratch my poor head . |
19 | Ashamed , I could only nod . |
20 | ‘ I have an 18 month old son so I could only leave the conditioner on for three minutes but I was still very impressed . |
21 | I could only say ‘ all of it ’ . |
22 | ‘ Oh , Gabriel , I could only love everyone when I loved you . |
23 | ‘ I always felt , ’ she said , ‘ that life 's not worth living , that I could only contemplate little bits of it and keep my sanity ; and those bits I selected carefully — the sun on a breakfast-table , girls dressing , flowers … ’ |
24 | I could only sit and marvel that some things are the same the world over . |
25 | I 'd done five but I could only remember one . |
26 | Granny was seated in her rocking chair facing the fireplace , but her back was to me and I could only see the paper curlers she had in her hair . |
27 | He mumbled so badly that , half the time , I could only guess at what he might be saying . |
28 | That summer I could only think he was mad as he set off around the town and I dozed in the dark heat and stillness of the garden . |
29 | I could only attribute my captors ' sudden change of attitude to the fact that they were pleased to be getting rid of me . |
30 | At that time I could only eat alone . |