Example sentences of "before it could [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Other aircraft joined in the fight , and before it could make a second attack the Albatros found itself under attack . |
| 2 | He bent and twisted himself before it , jerking suddenly this way and that , as if he were lying in wait for disease , determined to pounce on it before it could strike . |
| 3 | This first important flowering of opera outside Italy , however , was cut short by domestic rebellion and foreign invasion before it could strike roots and even the scores , like Schütz 's , have disappeared without trace . |
| 4 | She had laughed then at the vivid imagination of the child , but now for a brief moment she saw the city as Maggie saw it , basking in the first rays of the sun and oblivious to the dangerous mist below that might suck it in before it could wake up and take wing against the now blue blue sky . |
| 5 | He stated that the Soviet Union had to negotiate the return of the islands before it could hope for improved co-operation with Japan . |
| 6 | Behind him there was a crescendo of applause , and before it could stop the guards were ushering the members of that sinister audience to their rooms . |
| 7 | Another boat came along and not realising the situation overtook the inside boat and , before it could stop , also ran into the bridge . |
| 8 | But there are several obstacles that such a faculty would have to overcome before it could go ahead . |
| 9 | ‘ The tree was destroyed before it could bear fruit ! ’ shouted Surere , gripping the edge of the table and half rising from his seat . |
| 10 | A computer would have to be given knowledge about human eating habits before it could interpret this . |
| 11 | A US congressional delegation said on Sept. 8 , after meeting both Gamsakhurdia and opposition leaders , that Georgia had to improve its record on human rights before it could expect to receive international recognition . |
| 12 | Bad news followed in his wake ; the French company went bankrupt before it could pay out the cheque . |
| 13 | But before it could pay money out it would require a warrant . |
| 14 | Sydney had some way to go before it was released from the burden of compulsive immigration , and before it could present to the world a face that was uniquely its own . |
| 15 | The first stage in each investigation was to list the information the committee required before it could reach a valid conclusion . |
| 16 | The US State Department 's response was that it needed to see the blueprints on European defence before it could think of pouring concrete . |
| 17 | Conoco was trying to find out the cause of the leak , before it could decide how to stop it . |
| 18 | She snatched Granny Morkie 's walking stick , strode forward and whacked the fox across the nose before it could move . |
| 19 | If the immediate military objectives were to seize Noriega and paralyse potential opposition before it could organise , both seem to have failed . |
| 20 | She must kill it , at once , before it could destroy her . |
| 21 | ‘ The devil ! ’ he uttered , and as her hands left its edge he let her go and seized the tray before it could fall . |
| 22 | When Alison had pushed him he 'd started to gather the momentum to ask the same questions that were obsessing Forester — apparently not the reaction she 'd expected , judging from the way that she seemed to have slammed the lid back on the mixture before it could boil over . |
| 23 | Granada held out , and the action was aborted by Maudling 's death before it could come to trial . |
| 24 | The steel tape had to be cut with wire-cutters , then soldered , and then it had to be ‘ tempered ’ before it could run through the machine — which it did with a loud clang ! |
| 25 | Werner felt a drop of perspiration trickle out from under his hairline and he wiped it away before it could run down the side of his face . |
| 26 | At first , as he worked , he had reminisced pleasantly to himself about the smells and the texture of paper and ink , and about the pleasure of opening a new roll of papyrus , laid out as far as there was need on soft leather spread over a wooden writing desk ; then mixing the ink powder with water , and the nervous moment of dipping the brush to make the first signs — to load the brush just so , in order that the ink would be absorbed by the paper before it could run down it . |
| 27 | But Rutherford hooked well , Crowe provided several of his best cover-drives , the groundstaff captured a dog before it could interfere with play , and Tufnell 's effort to prevent a boundary by slide-tackling the ball had the same result as when he tried it on the same ground a year ago : four . |
| 28 | She picked up the phone before it could ring twice , and spoke softly into the mouthpiece . |
| 29 | The Dane Valdemar Poulsen invented his ‘ Telegraphone ’ in 1898 and patented it in 1900 , but ( as with commercial electrical recording ) amplification was needed before it could become practicable . |
| 30 | Britain would have liked the scientific committee to be asked to present clear evidence that radioactive dumping is damaging before it could recommend a ban . |