Example sentences of "be say [was/were] " in BNC.

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No	Sentence
1	Back then , those things which could n't be said were hinted at in the grain of those luscious voices .
2	All that could be said was that the judges and staff of the court would continue to do all in their power to reduce costs and lead times in the disposal of appellant business .
3	The decor was inclusive in the rent and all that can be said was that the decor was expensive .
4	Before the Second World War it was still decreed by the Women 's Cricket Association that women cricketers should wear white stockings — a rule which it has to be said was not always adhered to by the players .
5	So , it was in the ordinary conduct of party politics by men in pursuit of power that expectations , aspirations and objectives were reduced to an apparent simplicity , to a crudity of choice for which all that could be said was that it represented the national will .
6	There were exceptions , recognised by the statute and the courts , but this was not such a case ; all that could be said was that economic damage , perhaps very severe , might be done to the defendant if publicity were not withheld .
7	But the next thing to be said was ‘ Thank you very much ’ in German , as quickly as possible .
8	All Kevin Rowland seemed to be saying was that he had something to say .
9	What the Leeds manager appeared to be saying was that , while it was a matter of opinion whether Mr Midgley used his discretion correctly , he was glad to see a referee not sticking rigidly to the letter of the law .
10	What most of the practitioners seemed to be saying was that the satisfactions of practice lay in ‘ helping people ’ , whatever the problem , whereas the frustrations lay in their inability to exercise their technical skills more fully because of the pressure of time .
11	But by then I might have children and all I would be saying was ‘ Sit still ’ , or ‘ Do n't eat with your fingers ’ , or ‘ Eat up all your peas . ’

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