Example sentences of "[modal v] [prep] be [adj] " in BNC.

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1 Roche speaking at the launch of next year 's Leeds Classic , said : ‘ I did everything I could to be good again , but I had problems .
2 The Poor Law had been most effective in forcing all those who could to be self-helping .
3 They used to be brilliant .
4 Ho Choi 's use used to be brilliant !
5 I mean , Angela , one of the twins , we used to be close .
6 I used to be close mates with The head chef of the goal-line restaurant .
7 If there is one unchallenged law of personal computing it is that , given half a chance , they will make something that used to be simple into a completely bewildering nightmare !
8 Well what used to be simple and straightforward now leaves you with th wondering whether you got the right card in your pocket
9 They used to be sharp if you was n't careful .
10 ‘ Yes — I never used to be tidy , you know , but since the children grew up I 'm less able to tolerate mess — and Christmas is so messy ! ’
11 Dave used to be the Chairman of the Young Conservatives at thirty two , er , he was also a local councillor in nineteen seventy-five to nineteen seventy-eight in his home town of , erm , and he used to be Rotarian , for two years , he goes to raise money for charities .
12 Instead of meandering up a path to the top , chatting amicably to a pal about how George Michael used to be good in Wham and passing round the butterscotch , they choose a cliff and try to reach the summit by slowly inching their way up vertical rock , pushing their fingers into tiny fissures and standing with one toe on a ledge the size of a pebble .
13 ‘ I used to be good at running , trained three times a week and I was always competing .
14 Erm , capital bonds , they used to be good rates , they , they 've deteriorated really , National Savings certificates well I 've covered index-linked , the only one I 'd really say er is n't super unless you 're a higher-rate taxpayer is the fortieth issue , which is paying under six percent , it 's not really worth picking up for five years .
15 ‘ Sally used to be good mates with Zaria , did n't she ? ’
16 He gets all over the pitch , and I could see him fitting in in all kinds of areas , he used to be good for Spurs even when the defence came under pressure , and he 'd tackle back , becoming the ball winner .
17 We used to be good enemies , that great prince and I , but somehow the enmity 's grown cool of late .
18 I work in a newspaper that used to be male dominated and now I would say three quarters of the wo , three quarters of the people on the news desk are now women .
19 Their influence used to be great .
20 Used to be great .
21 And er oh it used to be great fun
22 The industry in this town used to be great but everything 's shutting .
23 Used to be great friends , before Charles walked out .
24 maybe a bit younger the fashion used to be winkle-picker shoes .
25 It used to be possible to complete three circuits of the Barkhor before being detained .
26 It used to be possible to skate over the frozen water from Ulvik right out to the Hardanger Fjord , but now the hydro-electric station discharges gallons of hot water into the fjord , and it no longer freezes in winter .
27 It used to be possible to obtain second-hand telescopes at low cost , but by now a really good , cheap second-hand telescope is about as common as a great auk .
28 All the parishes used to be different and it used to be possible at one time to know approximately where in Orkney somebody came from .
29 ‘ I used to be nervous before big games , but what has happened this year has given me increasing confidence , ’ said Beal .
30 And somewhere through the hotel muzak lurks the sensation that things used to be different , that we ( my brother and I ) had n't always been wrapped in jumpers , silent , staring at the screen , that the days used to be hot and long .
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