Example sentences of "[pron] [modal v] be [was/were] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | There had to be agencies and clinics that were competent to deal with drug abuse , while the best I could be was an enthusiastic amateur , and that was rarely good enough . |
| 2 | I also spoke of my difficulty in giving talks to the armed forces ; for nothing remotely intellectual was acceptable , and the only use which I felt I could be was in taking along a few maps and indicating the whereabouts of places increasingly mentioned on the wireless or the press ( though they read only the ‘ picture ’ papers ) . |
| 3 | All I would be was a punchbag for his escaping fury , the entity he saw as a new unbearable threat to his dominance in Tremayne 's stable ; the interloper , usurper , legitimate target . |
| 4 | What she should be were it not for the constant muscular spasming and the recurrent confusion of her senses . |
| 5 | They 're asking what the noise could be who it could be were the guards coming for them ? |
| 6 | The possessed woman , like her bewitched counterpart , becomes the immediate centre of attention and care , and although she exerts pressure upon her spouse the latter is not assailed as radically as he would be were he accused of being a witch . |
| 7 | It will be were n't it ? |