Example sentences of "[vb past] n't been for [art] [adj] " in BNC.

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1 People like myself , would n't have had the bottle , would n't have dreamed of coming up here if it had n't been for the good work of people like Mike and Harry , who in my opinion do a superb job in training me , you , all of us in this union .
2 Simone 's gran , Gwen Turner , said : ‘ If it had n't been for the prompt action of these two ambulancemen I do n't know what would have happened .
3 It 's Sir Ralph Halpern 's view that if it had n't been for the current worldwide recession , many more outside brands would have been introduced to the UK market .
4 It was one of her own designs , but whether she would ever have worn it , if it had n't been for the interfering Roman Wyatt , she did n't know .
5 I am no molecular biologist , and would n't have dreamed of learning the techniques required to detect the immediate early genes , if it had n't been for the serendipitous arrival in the lab of a young molecular biologist from Moscow , Kostya Anokhin ( grandson of the psychologist and physiologist pupil of Pavlov , Peter Anokhin , whose ‘ functional systems theory ’ I referred to in passing in Chapter 9 ) .
6 She would have rung him , if it had n't been for the tall constable standing meaningfully by the telephone .
7 If it had n't been for the long hair and the high heels , we 'd have thought we had a squaddie on our hands .
8 He felt he might even have given the captain a good run for his money if it had n't been for the damn man 's obvious advantage of height and weight .
9 Nobody would have known that he was planning to puff on home-grown cannabis in Wales if it had n't been for the ironic coincidence that another Mr Perkins had mistakenly opened a package addressed to the actor .
10 If it had n't been for the capricious whim of her younger sister she would have been hard at work in London at this moment .
11 ‘ If it had n't been for the native Africans in the community who rallied round , looked after my wife and kept leaving food parcels outside the door we would have been sunk .
12 Part of it was my upbringing , of course , but I could easily have had a violent reaction away from that if it had n't been for the inhibiting atmosphere in the company itself .
13 Just for a moment their fingers touched , then broke apart as they both stepped back with a haste that would have been comical if it had n't been for the sudden surge of sensation that arced between them .
14 Detective Inspector Gerry Wright says although she had heart disease she may well have lived for several years , if it had n't been for the sudden shock of finding two men in her house .
15 If it had n't been for the double glazing she would have been hurt .
16 Oh , perhaps they would have done , if it had n't been for the local newspaper .
17 And she might even have managed to survive that sort of difficult scenario if it had n't been for the alarming , almost intimidating atmosphere engendered by Ross .
18 If it had n't been for the triumphant glitter in his eyes she would have been lost ; as it was , he had pulled her zip down and was easing her dress from her shoulders by the time she 'd steeled herself to thrust hard against his shoulders with both hands and roll off the bed .
19 However none of these exhibitions could have happened if it had n't been for the groundbreaking work carried out by Lubaina Himid since the late 70s .
20 If it had n't been for the canter Nails would not have been terribly keen for another lesson , but the canter had given him dreams above his station .
21 Even so , she had tied her hair back and simply slammed it on top of her head , If it had n't been for the few feminine wisps that escaped to frame that beautiful face she would have looked forbidding .
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