Example sentences of "they happen to be " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Would n't you agree that in normal day to day language if we see a line of cars going down a road and one of them happens to be a Rolls Royce we would say , that 's the quality car ? |
| 2 | It is irrelevant that some of them happen to be ‘ beetle genes ’ , while others happen to be ‘ bacterial genes ’ . |
| 3 | Martin Martin notes that on a small rocky island to the south of Skye there is ‘ a great quantity of scurvey-grass , of an extraordinary size , and very thick ; the natives eat it frequently , as well boiled as raw : two of them told me that they happened to be confined there for the space of thirty hours , by a contrary wind ; and being without victuals , fell to eating this scurvey-grass , and finding it of a sweet taste , far different from the land scurvey-grass , they ate a large basketful of it , which did abundantly satisfy their appetites until their return home ’ . |
| 4 | They had an interest in playing golf together so specifically formed a society giving it the name of the road they happened to be in at the time — Worple Way , Harrow . |
| 5 | The fact that they happened to be sites where nuclear waste was already produced , where there might be a flicker of acceptance from the local population , and appeared to have been chosen more from expediency than science , did n't seem to embarrass the already embattled industry . |
| 6 | Everything had an improvised , random air about it , as if people had erected new machines just where they happened to be standing at the time , next to the debris of the old . |
| 7 | The authorities had no option but to suspend the League , replacing it with three regional leagues in which men could play as amateurs , receiving only a token payment plus expenses , wherever they happened to be stationed . |
| 8 | Although upper class men varied their clothing rather more , according to what they happened to be doing , for formal public appearances they sometimes wore the toga . |
| 9 | Especially if they happened to be Paris , Venice or Florence . |
| 10 | Alison had rung to say that she was coming up to London for an appointment and could they lunch at a restaurant to which they had both occasionally gone when working at Brentwoods , if they happened to be feeling affluent . |
| 11 | It was alleged that at first the railway company denied that they had been travelling on the train at all , and it was indeed suggested that the two children were chance victims of the holocaust and they happened to be wandering by the railway at the time . |
| 12 | Since Jasper and Bienvida never went to bed until Tina did but fell asleep wherever they happened to be , Jarvis hardly took this protest seriously . |
| 13 | This was true , in its way , but that did not prevent great-nephews and great-nieces becoming irritated when Auntie babied them and fussed over their clothing or over whatever they happened to be doing . |
| 14 | Long acquaintance with the clergy had convinced him that priests could not tell one layman from the next if they happened to be on their own administrative staff . |
| 15 | He seemed far more concerned to take money off the rich — especially if they happened to be Muslim . |
| 16 | Incidentally , in such cases identity of interest produced a close symbiosis between the large producers — where they happened to be natives and not themselves foreigners — the great trading houses and compradore interests of the export/import ports , and the policies of the states representing the European markets and suppliers . |
| 17 | To allege incompetence at playing the tuba would not lower most people in the eyes of their fellow citizens — unless they happened to be professional tubists . |
| 18 | ‘ Unless they happened to be a part of it . ’ |
| 19 | 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 ’ . |
| 20 | Their children will in many cases be born stateless ( unless they happen to be born in a country where birth confers the right of citizenship ) . |
| 21 | These are the people who do n't consider what 's going on in your mind , merely what goes on your feet ( the London club Kazoo turns people away if they happen to be wearing Wallabees ) . |
| 22 | They happen to be my father 's vice . ’ |
| 23 | ( By the way , in case they happen to be reading this , my apologies to Phillip , Mary , Harold and Henry for taking their names in vain ! ) |
| 24 | Whales and dolphins are largely carnivorous , but feed mostly on much smaller creatures — fish , lobsters , krill , plankton and so on , depending upon the species and where they happen to be in the world 's oceans . |
| 25 | Young children may lay claim to possession just because they happen to be playing with , say , a car or doll . |
| 26 | However , despite its diminutive size , it is well able to fend for itself in a mixed community tank , protecting its territory against all comers , even if they happen to be twice its size . |
| 27 | I know booksellers who regard the written word with the utmost suspicion , profess that they do not understand it , and will have nothing to do with it ; dealers who specialise in autograph material , but will not touch books — unless , of course , they happen to be on the subject of autographs ; and many who maintain an ambivalent attitude , preferring to keep their options open and , if they can afford it , employing some eccentric especially to deal with this awkward material . |
| 28 | They both love browsing in antique shops wherever they happen to be visiting , and appreciate good quality modern and reproduction designs . |
| 29 | A third party may be confident that the member States behind the organisation are secure debtors , particularly if they happen to be the main industrial powers of the world . |
| 30 | Remember also that most lecturers ( if they happen to be your examiners ) feel a strong revulsion and antipathy when they find their own cherished and " brilliant " arguments re-presented in a bowdlerised fashion from inadequate notes and a poor flogged memory . |