Example sentences of "[prep] if [pron] [was/were] a [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | At the base of these cliffs , almost as if they had been hewn in the rock by men , were three , four or five cave-mouths , chamber-like , as if they were a row of monastic cells in some monastery . |
| 2 | The Reverend Foster 's beady eyes fixed on the children fumbling for their donations as if they were a parcel of juicy worms to be swooped on if they tried to wriggle away . |
| 3 | Now , with the stilling of the engines , the sudden silence was so absolute that he saw the three motionless figures as if they were a tableau of dummies in a silent world . |
| 4 | When we looked out the sea-gulls did seem to be weaving in and out and making rather strange but happy sounds — almost as if they were a bit tipsy — and as it turned out , such was the case . |
| 5 | He scrutinized the documents as if they were a puzzle picture in which he had to spot the deliberate mistakes . |
| 6 | She prowled among the desks and glowered at the action boards as if they were a bunch of football hooligans . |
| 7 | Still gripping the blankets as if they were a lifeline , she stared back at fitzAlan , completely speechless . |
| 8 | I accepted all of this without thinking it in any way unusual , even though my father used to boast about Billy 's achievements as if they were a matter for civic pride . |
| 9 | The Japanese preference is to treat suppliers as if they were a department of their own firm — sharing design work and swapping ideas on quality control and manufacturing methods — but one that , because it is separate , is subject to market disciplines . |
| 10 | Surely it is time we stopped talking of elephants as if they were a commodity to be traded , like so many cans of paint , and accept them for what they are , ancient and splendid fellow inhabitants of the earth who share with us the joys of close kinship bonds and grieve when they are severed . |
| 11 | Then with slow deliberation they walked on , their spades clasped to them , as if they were a band of ancient warriors . |
| 12 | It has to do partly with the feeling , particularly powerful in the 19th century , that the proper role of education , at least at the top end , was to equip gentlemen to run the Empire ; and it seemed reasonable at the time to concentrate not upon mechanics , but upon grand ideals , and the classics were studied as if they were a form of theology , a way of revealing fundamental and lasting human truths This , perhaps , is why anti-science is strongest in Britain , because we took Empire most seriously . |
| 13 | You encounter as if they were a sort of home Fountains of fern that jet from the coarse loam . |
| 14 | But it was as if there was a halter on his tongue . |
| 15 | Use a little star to indicate which is the asymmetric centre which kiral centre and all it means is that if you were to dra , if you had a a kiral molecule in other words , it had four different groups attached to it what it means is that it and it 's mirror image , this is the way you actually draw it and answer the questions you draw you draw it as if there was a mirror image . |
| 16 | The fingers scooped at the pages as if there was a reference that was familiar . |
| 17 | Not a lot , not saying much , but offering observations voluntarily , as if there was a relationship between them . |
| 18 | It 's not as if there was a stash of notes that he could extort from Stone and take away with him . |
| 19 | By the time he had managed to crawl on to the bed , dragging such scarves as he could find to shield his eyes , for the curtains were only flimsy cotton of a summer rented house , all annoyance , all regret for the wasted day , all intentions , all straining for activity , was gone , absorbed into the panic that connected — as if there was a piston rod — his throbbing head , the lights crossing behind his eyeballs and his churning stomach . |
| 20 | First , we should not necessarily measure different kinds of information media against one another as if there was a competition taking place to find the most powerful way of communicating with people . |
| 21 | It is not as if there was a competition involved , or any tie-breaker , but rather just a sales promotion . |
| 22 | ‘ I do n't think so , ’ she said , but she expressed the truth so artfully it sounded almost as if there was a possibility . |
| 23 | It was almost as if there was a devil inside him . |
| 24 | It was as if there was a wave of water and the wave turned a wheel and the wheel turned a cog and the cog turned a piston and the piston punched out a wave , bigger and more overwhelming than the first wave , turning a bigger wheel , a bigger cog , a bigger piston and then finally a wave that seemed enough to swallow everything in its path . |
| 25 | ‘ I 'm so sorry , a stupid , helpless old fool , ’ Mrs Hobbs whispered , and I felt as if there was a weight on my chest , choking me . |
| 26 | ‘ It sounded to me as if there was a lot of explosives in the van . |
| 27 | His right arm went up as if there was a string pulling it . |
| 28 | all around there yesterday , the curtains were down and it looked as if there was a table piled up with cardboard boxes in the , in the front window . |
| 29 | It was as if there was a force field there . |
| 30 | They could not have told when the music tightened its hold and began its pull , but to Taliesin , afterwards , it was as if there was a moment when he knew that he was able to resist , and then another moment when he had surrendered completely . |