Example sentences of "have been [v-ing] on for years " in BNC.

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1 During a civil action that has been going on for years over ownership , he was made a ward of court and his bones kept in shoe boxes in a bank . ’
2 A sort of messy , mucky drama has been going on for years , about unselectivity and conglomeration : ‘ Let them have the experience , all of them , every one of them , every minute of every time ! ’ ( p. 8 ) .
3 Now , butterflies live only a matter of weeks , and yet this has been going on for years .
4 ‘ I know that picking the seam has been going on for years , but tampering with the ball is a different matter .
5 Haunting has been going on for years and years and years .
6 As my hon. and learned Friend has accepted the closure of Bir Zeit is part of the systematic infringement of the Geneva convention by Israel which has been going on for years , should not a more robust approach therefore be taken , both by our Government and by the European Community , and should not economic measures at some stage be taken in relation to Israel to prevent the continuation of such unacceptable violations of human rights and of the Geneva convention ?
7 The battle for him though has been going on for years ai n't it Gordon ?
8 ‘ I wo n't deny that , Mrs Wilson , but there was a period , just before she disappeared … well , I say just before she disappeared but it may have been going on for years , I do n't know … there was a period when she was very unhappy , very unhappy indeed . ’
9 Maeve sat crouched over a table using a pool of light from a huge candelabra to stab furiously with her needle at a piece of embroidery she had been working on for years .
10 She would phone the police and they would go out of their way to search her garden and reassure her of their vigilance , but it had been going on for years .
11 For God 's sake , this had been going on for years , with animals making a noise — surely this is what country life is all about and it would be a sad day if there were no noises from the farms or from the back gardens of our cottages .
12 It contains the first detailed plans for the Himalayas , which all the big names in the business have been working on for years .
13 There 's a racket goin' on , Aggie ; but you know as well as me it 's been goin' on for years .
14 I gather it 's been going on for years . ’
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