Example sentences of "[vb mod] be [adj] were " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | He meant to look forbidding , but found it difficult when eyes that should be glaring were shut . |
| 2 | It is suggested that this could be faster were it not for the introduced American Mink which may be occupying the position once held by Polecats in the habitat . |
| 3 | It strikes me the symbolism of this whole venture would be better were it he and Andy balancing together on the seat , but I get the impression Andy 's partner is n't fully into such flamboyance . |
| 4 | That he has been able to combine both ministries would be surprising were it not for the fact that he has worked as an active Socialist besides having a good track record in cultural affairs . |
| 5 | Indeed it would be surprising were we able to do so , since there are some fairly clear empirical examples of industries where publicly owned concerns have been of superior or equal efficiency to private ones , as we shall see in chapter 7 . |
| 6 | Council staff provided an estimate of the gap between rates payable in Scotland in 1990/91 and the rates that would be payable were the same system in place as is in England ( The Uniform Business Rate ) . |
| 7 | The competition authorities should concern themselves with firms ' conduct only when there is reason to believe that competition is absent ( or would be absent were the conduct permitted ) . |
| 8 | I would be grateful were you to bring this Mass to the attention of the people through your parish bulletins . |
| 9 | States have shown a capacity for self-destruction in the past and wars have come with a regularity which would be monotonous were it not so horrifying ; history belies the claims of statesmen to be in charge of events . |
| 10 | To human beings the existence of exploitative relations of production would be agonizing were they perceived simply as exploitative . |
| 11 | Despite the relief provided by a wide , bashful grin , Singleton 's arrogance would be unbearable were it not fuelled by righteous indignation and an urgent need to communicate . |
| 12 | The incident would be funny were it not that a similar stunt had been pulled in Kismayu , southern Somalia 's largest port , at the end of March . |
| 13 | All this would be fine were it not for the fact that Pearce has chosen to support the main course of his assault with a little verbal side-dish , to wit : an attack on Punch . |
| 14 | For more than a week , a group of grey-suited former communists has played with the nation 's future with an irresponsibility and spite that would be risible were it not so dangerous . |
| 15 | Overcoming these rivalries , which would be pretty were they not so debilitating , has proved harder than talking about them . |
| 16 | THE stubborn candidature of Mr John Browne for Winchester would be comic were it not also deceitful — he proclaims himself the Conservative in all his literature — and dangerous to the Tory interest in a desperately close election . |
| 17 | Although at one point Lear is willing to return to Goneril , since she seems to be allowing him fifty knights , Regan only twenty-five , so that ‘ Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty , /And thou art twice her love ’ ( II.iv.260ff. ) — a quantification of love that would be comic were its effects not so awful — Lear becomes enraged by the two of them , and prefers ‘ To wage against the enmity o ’ th' air' than live with them . |
| 18 | The Detectives , which pulled in bumper viewing figures when it was shown on BBC earlier this year , was a revelation for Jasper whose stand-up routines of recent years if I can be frank were dire . |