Example sentences of "[noun] [pron] happened to " in BNC.

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1 So we entered a genteel teashoppe/cafe which happened to be handy and ordered coffee , as so often before .
2 A priest who happened to be visiting my mother volunteered to stay on one of these occasions , but the screams drove him out .
3 In an aunt 's loft he happened to chance across what he regards as his first hoard : a collection of dust-covered National Geographic magazines .
4 As was so often the case , he sucked up nourishment from books he happened to be reading , finding parallels in the lives of characters to his own dilemmas and solutions .
5 She did not actually concentrate on the birds which happened to be there , nor did she feel any desire to feel them or encourage them to come near her — but she was quite able to relax knowing that they were there in the background .
6 Before being taken to the platform , he was introduced to those members of the Committee who happened to be milling around the entrance .
7 From time to time , almost absent-mindedly , he reached into his pocket and produced a sweet , which he gave to any small boy who happened to be near .
8 If tha does n't believe me , ger a bag of coil on thi back and I 'll get one on mine [ not something unusual for Amos who happened to be a coalmerchant ] and ah 'll race thee to t ’ top o' t' wood ! ’
9 ‘ It was a pity it happened to her , the prettiest in the village .
10 She spent more and more time off her eggs , parading about the yard , cackling as if demented and taking sudden rushes in whatever direction she happened to be facing when each fit of frenzy overcame her .
11 But , pushing him aside , she gathered her cloak around her , made so bravely from those two old plush tablecloths , and began to walk downhill — the direction she happened to be facing — until she came to St Jude 's churchyard where she sat on a gravestone , her head in her hands , and shivered .
12 It 's work I have some familiarity with because by accident I happened to be the external examiner of the lad who did it , Peter Williamson .
13 Would a Melanesian who happened to be one 's cousin five times removed be a relation or a foreigner ?
14 ‘ Well , he does n't sound like anyone I know , ’ I said , ‘ unless he 's a caddie who happened to be passing nearby and wanted to quiz me about any work available . ’
15 Buddeke wrote bits of her speech into a notebook as he examined those around him and made note of the enthusiastic individuals who happened to be standing nearby , describing dress , attitude , or making little sketches .
16 Malcolm Rifkind , the Defence Secretary , intervened to say the army believed it would be ‘ grossly invidious for the choice of soldiers for redundancy to depend on whether at any given moment they happened to be serving in Northern Ireland , Bosnia , the UK or elsewhere ’ .
17 He did n't care two straws what happened to her .
18 Well I wo n't say Beven because it 's a bloody shame what happened to him !
19 For the moment what happened to Mr Davison after the fdight remains a mystery .
20 He still has a 30-years-old Courtelle suit which he kept as a standby for the MBE investiture just in case something happened to his morning dress .
21 Storm Jameson , a woman novelist active in the peace movement , later recalled : ‘ For some years after 1933 I lived in equivocal amity with pacifists and combative supporters of the League of Nations , adjusting my feelings , in good and bad faith , to the person I happened to be with .
22 The one major event which happened to me at Binbrook , and which was going to change my life , was that I met the man I was eventually to marry , although a lot of water would flow under the bridge before the wedding took place .
23 ‘ I 'm calling a friend who happened to be in London with me , ’ he drawled coolly .
24 George Taylor was collected and he and Mrs Oliver returned to the tobacconists ' to be joined shortly by PC Chandler , an off-duty policeman who happened to be in Higatt 's too .
25 It also transpired that parts of England ( east and south-east ) were put on full invasion alert at the time , but it seems that ‘ Cromwell ’ had been ignored in some places where the junior officers who happened to be on duty had not been let into the secret of what it meant .
26 The day it happened to me
27 He had an endearing habit at 10 o'clock of calling on each facet of his customers , starting with the lowest rank of airman , to " piss off " ; and worked through the ranks until he got to Kings ( and on this occasion it happened to be King Peter of Yugoslavia ) .
28 It was basically a group of people who happened to be around but very soon we all had titles and were constantly organising and re-organising the creating divisions and systems and methods .
29 To a large extent , their numbers were made up of tourists , people who happened to be passing by , people with time to kill , and people who simply fancied doing something different .
30 He was found by his father , Don who happened to be going the same way .
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