Example sentences of "be all [pron] could " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | It had been all she could do , as she wrote to Ellen : |
| 2 | It might well prove to be all they could do to find their way across the heather to some quiet field or copse-bank like those they had been used to . |
| 3 | Bald information was all it could be : the statement of a fact , far beyond parental agreement or approval . |
| 4 | It was all he could do to stop . |
| 5 | The tears on Cullam 's cheeks awoke in him a nausea and a rage so fierce that it was all he could do to prevent himself from striking him . |
| 6 | Apart from the expense of taking Alison to the cinema , Nigel 's evening out was all he could have hoped for . |
| 7 | Then , because fomenting distrust between the two men was all he could do , ‘ You get a chance , shoot him , ’ he advised with a nod at Louis : ‘ You do n't , he 'll kill you . ’ |
| 8 | That was all he could say for quite a time ; but when he had recovered his confidence he said a lot more , all of it expressing gratitude to Sheila for her quick thinking and great pluck and shame for his own and Chuck 's roughness with her earlier . |
| 9 | It was all he could think , he had to get out , away from the animal boy . |
| 10 | Peace of mind was all he could give her . |
| 11 | ‘ Aw , mister , ’ was all he could manage to say . |
| 12 | ‘ It 's not normal , ’ was all he could say when they let him out . |
| 13 | ‘ Kind of you , ’ was all he could say , at length , ‘ but I shall be … all right . ’ |
| 14 | ‘ What have you done to me ? ’ was all he could say . |
| 15 | ‘ I 'll ask George the roadsweeper , ’ was all he could suggest . |
| 16 | This pistol was so heavy that he could not , of course , stick it in his belt ; it was all he could do to lift it with both hands But he had been so enthusiastic about it that he had willingly gone through the laborious loading of its honeycomb of barrels , one after another , and now it was ready to wreak destruction . |
| 17 | The object he had tripped over was the pistol ; it was so heavy that it was all he could do to raise it . |
| 18 | ‘ Why ? ’ was all he could ask . |
| 19 | Want was all he could do , for his body had long ago ceased to function in that way . |
| 20 | Sometimes , when he passed those gigantic hoardings advertising Hollywood films with vast drawings of pouting female lips , it was all he could do to stop himself wanking on the spot . |
| 21 | Riven felt a thrill of fear in his stomach , like ice poured liquid into the bottom of his lungs ; and then it was all he could do to steer his terrified horse in Murtach 's wake , and stay aboard as it swerved past rocks and bushes , and leapt hollows with the thunder of the other horses like a storm in his ears , and the rain a freezing hail in his face that blinded him . |
| 22 | Maxim put 100 marks on the table ; it was all he could afford , with the taxi meter ticking over . |
| 23 | It was all he could do to spell his own name . |
| 24 | John loved beautiful things , she felt sure ; it must be painful for him to live in such surroundings , perhaps humiliating too for him to have her realise that this was all he could afford to live in . |
| 25 | ‘ You are n't serious , ’ was all he could say . |
| 26 | If that was all he could say about something which , to her , had transcended all the experiences of her life … |
| 27 | It was all he could think of to say , at that confused moment of re-awakening . |
| 28 | ‘ It is , is it ? ’ was all he could think of to say . |
| 29 | ‘ Where 's Squit ? ’ was all he could think of to say . |
| 30 | One week at his parents ' opulent home in Beverly Hills was all he could bear . |