Example sentences of "it [was/were] not " in BNC.
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1 | If it were not for Section 8 of the Contempt of Court Act , we might be able to make reforms more rationally on the basis of , at least , a minimal sample of the recorded deliberations of informed and unidentified jurors . |
2 | The Governor , Sir David Wilson , has argued for a general ‘ right of entry ’ to Britain — though such a ‘ right ’ could not be of much value if it were not ordinarily convertible into full citizenship . |
3 | as if it were not enough to battle the elements and their colleagues ( the crew includes a freaked-out Naval officer with a nuclear warhead and an itchy finger ) , Harris and Mastroantonio are a husband and wife with marital troubles . |
4 | Canal tours , blue-and-white china , narrow streets — if it were not also a university town it would be merely beautiful . |
5 | If I were reasonably satisfied that , other things being equal , substantially fewer persons would be murdered if the death penalty were available than if it were not , I should have opposed its abolition and would support its restoration . |
6 | ‘ The internal dissension in the three parties , ’ wrote Beatrice Webb in her diary , ‘ each party finding its bitterest enemies among its own members or ci-devant members , would be ludicrous if it were not a sinister symptom of the decadent disrupture of British public opinion , owing to lack of faith either in the present order or in any consistent and comprehensive principles of reconstruction . ' |
7 | The five dogs on the other end of it were not impressed with the idea of going backwards and battle was joined . |
8 | If it were not human you would not want it for research and if it was not human no one would deny you having it for research . ’ |
9 | The clumsiness is evident in the standard of ‘ the reasonable man ’ , an anthropomorphic ( and male ) standard which might be taken to suggest a paragon of virtue if it were not for the context of partially exculpating a killing by such a person . |
10 | She half mouthed the word , as though it were not quite suitable for a polite tea-table . |
11 | When people objected that The Green Book was ‘ just words ’ — a strong condemnation in Huaiwiri — Salah said that of course some parts of it were not as good as others , but it was foolish to condemn everything in it just because some parts of it were wrong . |
12 | If it were not for the fact that he was one of the favourites you 'd have been delighted but as a Gold Cup winner I had to feel a bit disappointed . |
13 | Labour 's prescription for the British economy would be risible , if it were not so dangerous . |
14 | If it were not for the debilitating character question , Clinton would surely have a fair chance of beating Bush . |
15 | I am inclined to back Alexander 's argument that grouping would occur in most predated species if it were not for additional factors dispersing the individuals in relation to their food supply . |
16 | Indeed , on average , each pair of cod produces only two offspring of opposite sexes that survive to breed in the course of their lives , for if it were not so , the population of cod would grow and grow , which it clearly does not . |
17 | All the same , Reader 's Digest is a successful publishing house and it seems to me that the company would not be producing the book if it were not convinced that there is a big market for such works . |
18 | It is essential that a transmitter can be inactivated as soon as it has conveyed its message ; if it were not so , the system would be clogged or would receive needless repetitions of the same message . |
19 | This would be a useful feature if it were not for the fact that a certain amount of vaginal discharge is perfectly normal and natural for a woman in her reproductive years ; and what is more , this natural discharge is subject to a fair amount of variation depending on the stage of the menstrual cycle . |
20 | This would not matter very much ( for it would always be possible for individual candidates to prove the expectation wrong ) , if it were not for the fact that whole papers in the final examination , or certain questions on papers , are to be ‘ differentiated ’ . |
21 | • for the part of the payment between the exempt amount and £50,000 , first calculate your income tax as if this part were included in your income and then your tax as if it were not ; the relief on this part is half the difference ; • for the part between £50,000 and £75,000 , first calculate your tax as if the part between the exempt amount and £75,000 were included in your income , and then your tax as if only the part between the exempt amount and £50,000 were included ; the relief on this part is 25 per cent of the difference ; |
22 | At the western outskirts of the town is the Bliss Valley Tweed Mill , an imposing stone-built factory which , if it were not for its chimney rising from a domed tower , would look like a great country mansion . |
23 | So within a fortnight of launching the competition , it appeared that two-thirds of it were not required , and the premiums had been offered without authority . |
24 | The extremities of the cloud are rotating so fast that the cloud would disperse if it were not held together by some force of gravity . |
25 | Their output has been prodigious — and most of it has been perfectly intelligible , even to those who would rather it were not . |
26 | In the US , women were treated for ‘ masturbatory orgasmic inadequacy , ’ which would be laughable if it were not both sad and harmfully misleading . |
27 | It is very difficult to find a reason for that early forebear making a ‘ god ’ for himself in the first place , if it were not a result of the pressures of dependence originating from mammalian childhood . |
28 | Article 100 would require a unanimous vote , therefore a member state could ‘ veto ’ the proposal if it were not satisfied with the content . |
29 | When one man with a tiny congregation has the cure of 13,000 souls , it is a joke , or it would be if it were not so sad . |
30 | If it were not for the hollow bones the 30-ton creature would have required inordinate amounts of energy , and thus more food , to move around . |