Example sentences of "he [vb past] [vb pp] to be [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | The difficulty was , he 'd chosen to be charming so very , very often . |
| 2 | Lately , however , he had begun to be curious about her — almost against his will . |
| 3 | She knew she had nothing to feel guilty about despite her attraction to Luke , having resisted him , but his relationship with Cavell was none of her business really , and whether Luke finally confessed that he had intended to be unfaithful or Cavell discovered it for herself , she did n't want to have to feel responsible for any eventual break-up . |
| 4 | He had wanted to be sure before tackling Mary Penrose ; now he was . |
| 5 | Still half asleep he smiled indulgently , scenting a victory , since he had wanted to be generous all day and had been feeling mildly irritated with her for not giving him the opportunity . |
| 6 | He had wanted to be alone while he wrote tomorrow 's vital speech to the Conservative conference . |
| 7 | He had seemed to be sleeping , yet even in sleep his closed eyelids quivered and his tiny fists were half-clenched . |
| 8 | If there was indeed any mystery about Ewen Mackay 's visit to my cottage , the clue to it might well be here , in the house he had claimed to be familiar with . |
| 9 | Bessmertnykh was dismissed as Foreign Minister on Aug. 23 for " passivity " during the coup , during which he had claimed to be ill . |
| 10 | Tamas had attempted to stand in the same constituency in the 1985 general election , but had been thwarted by what he had alleged to be communist manipulation of the candidate selection process [ see p. 33812-13 ] . |
| 11 | And he had tried to be helpful about the blotter , staring at it with almost painful intensity before saying that he thought that the black markings had n't been there when he had last seen the blotter on Monday evening . |
| 12 | She wanted to hurt the man who had told her Rob had n't come back , but he had tried to be kind and anyway she could n't think clearly . |
| 13 | As a younger son he had learnt to be content with small advantages when greater ones were not to be had ; yet he had not lost the capacity for large designs or for rapid action when need arose . |
| 14 | When St Paul told the Christians in Philippi that he had learnt to be content , he did n't mean that he was smug ; it did n't mean that he had been well fed and could put his feet up . |
| 15 | He had meant to be casual , off-hand , collected and rather grand . |
| 16 | He had learned to be content . |
| 17 | In fact , at the time when Macmillan 's advice was sought he had ceased to be Prime Minister and it is the more odd that the Queen on this occasion should have , in Macmillan 's words , said that ‘ she did not need and did not intend to seek any other advice but mine ’ . |