Example sentences of "if they could " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Flemyngs would close it if they could . |
| 2 | ‘ They would have our throats out if they could get at us . ’ |
| 3 | These qualities are perceptible but the nature of their interactions is never talked of as if they could be quantified . |
| 4 | S&N argue they have kept Theakstons open and , presumably , would not have been so keen to do so if they could n't use the name and local appeal of the brand to advertise their Tyne Brewery beers . |
| 5 | the university has a new duty , we are told : there is a besieging host , everincreasing , of Indians , Africans , Commonwealth people in general , Levantines , who aspire to become university teachers of English literature , and must therefore have a PhD — preferably a Cambridge one ( though it is admitted that a large proportion of them could n't hope to take the English Tripos with much credit — even if they could pass ) . |
| 6 | He makes the reasonable point that the upholders of traditional positions might achieve a new plausibility if they could be seen actually arguing for them , rather than merely asserting them . |
| 7 | But , particularly since Tiananmen , it has been echoing the argument that people would be less concerned to leave Hong Kong before 1997 if they could be absolutely confident that other countries would accept them after that date . |
| 8 | Middle-age is the time , Swannell deftly shows , when men say butch things like ‘ I 'm not going to die under a duvet , ’ whereas , in truth , they would die if they could n't . |
| 9 | They travelled all over the countryside asking farmers if they could buy the rustic doors that were lying in the mud at the back of the barn . |
| 10 | It makes all the shoppers feel as if they could live in the style of Jane Austen . |
| 11 | When I asked if they could make me an identical one trimmed with black fur and beading instead , they were horrified but they agreed in the end . ’ |
| 12 | Things would have kindled if they could have demonstrated , or if Prince Charles could have uttered a single sentence of political substance . |
| 13 | Officers would perform excellent service if they could put themselves in a position to receive information which could be translated into proceedings before a jury . |
| 14 | The idea was to encourage people to join a union — not ban them if they could n't . |
| 15 | In Germany in 1939 , a British Gentile , let alone a Jew , knew what to expect of the Nazi authorities and got out if they could . |
| 16 | If they could afford to pay someone else , they would . |
| 17 | If they could not , can anyone ? |
| 18 | A poll suggested 46% of Londoners would leave if they could . |
| 19 | Halifax , however , was always more equivocal ; he was trying as late as the battle for France to keep the option of peace talks open , if they could preserve the independence of the British Empire . |
| 20 | Everywhere in the Western world social security budgets were under scrutiny , not to see if they were too meagre but to see if they could be reduced . |
| 21 | I think members of our beleaguered police force would be thrilled if they could find seven parties to witness the same event . ’ |
| 22 | This is merely routine arrogance , but it obscures from them the fact that they could impress everyone a lot more if they could do a better job — and with a bit of help they could . |
| 23 | Nevertheless he was fond of Kylie and still wanted to have an evening out if they could manage it despite the attention of the ever-present photographers . |
| 24 | Of course they had , and remembering had made them examine their arrangements more closely to see if they could not do without their man-servant . |
| 25 | If they could not exercise that power themselves , or count on the eastern empire to do it for them , then they would find it where they could . |
| 26 | Men of the king 's demesnes , as in Rodley in the Forest of Dean , were required to show by what warrant they exercised their rights of common and estovers of dead and dry wood in the forest , and if they could produce none they were required to pay for them . |
| 27 | The Cotton Twist Company rarely sacked anyone if they could wear them out first . |
| 28 | EDWARD and Joyce Widdup , hailed nationally as principled fighters against the onward march of brick and cement , have lost their battle — four months after saying they were willing to sacrifice £2 million if they could continue to live in their green oasis on the outskirts of Bradford , West Yorks . |
| 29 | The world is littered with communities which believe that if they could only separate themselves from the world , they would escape the consequences of original sin . |
| 30 | This country already has many more players available to them than other competing nations without reverting to ‘ poaching ’ and it would be nice if they could find 11 indigenous Englishmen to represent the country . |