Example sentences of "could [adv] [be] a [adj] [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Above all , there was Mrs Thatcher 's uniquely close link with President Reagan — but this , too , could only be a temporary phenomenon . |
| 2 | The other four supervisors , however , had one advantage over Mr. Carrick : they were all political friends of Lord Melville , and for that reason their removal could only be a temporary demotion . |
| 3 | A gimmick like that could only be a small part of Cud now . ’ |
| 4 | A gimmick like that could only be a small part of Cud now . ’ |
| 5 | Quakers ' manager Ray Hankin has yet to be informed of the FA verdict but the punishment could only be a one-match ban . |
| 6 | They said the cabinet 's resignation could only be a first step in an attempt to regain credibility . |
| 7 | On the face of it , this could only be a good thing . |
| 8 | Though from what I 've read about eighteenth-century Eton , anything that came after that could only be a pleasant relief . ’ |
| 9 | One of the one of the difficulties is that that that theatres up and down the country have faced over the last two years of the new target that were brought in with the eighty eight education act where schools were not allowed to make a charge it could only be a voluntary contribution now the council of Great Britain have looked at this it 's a problem cos of this decimated schools audiences . |
| 10 | Her own sordid story could only be a bad influence on such a young and impressionable mind . |
| 11 | A warm draught blew across the platform , one which could only be a Mediterranean breeze or synthetically produced , the latter being more likely as we were standing under a dull winter 's day in London . |
| 12 | The history of such a loose collection , even for such a short period as 1945 — 90 , could obviously be a large enterprise . |
| 13 | The national institution of the past 60-odd years could soon be a distant memory . |
| 14 | Ostriches could soon be a common sight in the countryside , as farmers search for profitable ways to diversify . |
| 15 | ‘ Of course , ’ said Mervyn thoughtfully , ‘ it could just be a genuine tomato sauce from a dish of spaghetti or ravioli . |
| 16 | The greater variability in the reproductive success of males could just be a random result : by chance some individuals will meet more mates than do others , and this will have a larger effect on the variability of reproduction of males , because in males more of the random encounters can result in mating . |
| 17 | m my , m my explanation of that though is that it 's true , i it could just be a hormonal side effect . |
| 18 | It was true , she thought ; in spite of his gentle , drunken ineffectiveness , he could easily be a violent man . |
| 19 | There could hardly be a better instance of the primacy of the written word compared with the spoken , of knowledge compared with skill . |
| 20 | There could hardly be a better time to move into insurance auditing . |
| 21 | There could hardly be a better use of the building and its tradition as a ‘ laboratory of the mind ’ . |
| 22 | There could hardly be a better reminder of what they were up against : a regent in Scotland with whom they were now at war , but whose political skills they recognized , and whom they regarded with respect , acting for their sovereign in France who so far failed to rule that she got a foreign monarch to tell them off . |
| 23 | There could hardly be a stronger contrast between this and the picture RIGHT which shows a Kirlian photograph of a healthy person 's fingertip . |
| 24 | And by the look of things , that could still be a long way off . |
| 25 | Legislation could still be a long way off but the proposals are an important first step . |
| 26 | Japan and Norway are both continuing research into wave power , and renewable energy campaigners believe that wave power could still be a major UK power contribution if research was encouraged and subsidised by the Government . |
| 27 | The numbers could still be a reliable guide to a player 's position even with all the playing formations these days . |
| 28 | Council was doubtful , however , if a system of internal validition could ever be a complete substitute for a system of external validation ’ . |
| 29 | Poole 's letter to Coleridge of about 10 December has not survived , but it was the cause of ‘ unexpected and most acute pain ’ and expressed Poole 's doubts that the Lime Street cottage could ever be a suitable home . |
| 30 | Pareto and Mosca ransacked history for multiple examples of this ‘ natural ’ cycle in operation , claiming that the accumulated weight of evidence refuted Marxist claims that there could ever be a classless society and liberals ' optimism that power could ever be meaningfully dispersed under popular control by establishing representative government . |