Example sentences of "[adj] [pers pn] [was/were] to [be] " in BNC.

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1 After the lecture there were tea and refreshments and it was not until fairly late that I rang Emily just to say Hello , and how sorry I was to be too busy to get over to the house to see her this trip .
2 Despite this it was to be less than two years before the Party adopted the idea of the " People 's Front " in its entirety , including the help of Liberals and even of Conservatives who were opposed to the National Government .
3 In this he was to be sadly mistaken , and the collapse of his position in the face of what was initially little more than a putsch organized by the queen shows how shallowly based his authority was , resting on fear and coercion rather than genuine loyalty .
4 In this he was to be disappointed .
5 Apart from the appointment of Edward Kirk to the post of Principal at Leeds in 1881 it was to be almost 100 years before deaf people once again became acceptable as teachers of deaf children .
6 While she worked she told Sara how fortunate she was to be going to Portugal and to have been found a husband and how , when she was married , it would be her duty to obey him and remain utterly faithful to him , taking the Blessed Virgin Mary as her model and guide in all things .
7 I was wondering what kind of problems I 'd come up against , having heard how impossible he was to be directed .
8 She was surprised to find how easy it was to be passive .
9 She had not liked him very much but she judged him to be one of those unfortunate men who dislike their neighbours even more than they dislike themselves and as such he was to be pitied , plodding on from day to day among his bingo-playing telly-watching parishioners .
10 How glad I was to be homeless .
11 He told us some harrowing stories of life on a bomber aerodrome which had ‘ main force ’ squadrons , always carrying heavy loads of high explosives and incendiaries , and impressed on us how lucky we were to be on a Pathfinder station .
12 When it came to subordinate males , however , there was a strong relationship between how nice males had been to infants and how likely they were to be attacked by the female : nicer males fared better .
13 She was glad it was to be a businesslike parting .
14 He began by saying how glad he was to be in Europe again , which gave him an opportunity to outline some of the developments taking place in other regions of the world , and to describe the next phase in the development of the world car .
15 Even the soldiers in the field must 've been thoroughly sick of all those whining pieces about Our Boys and Girls , and their mail , or the endlessly recycled nonsense about how hard it was to be a female soldier in Saudi Arabia .
16 How gorgeous it was to be alive !
17 Now , as he grew older and more mature , especially after his hectic and sometimes horrifying war experiences , he realised how lucky he was to be born and live in such a place .
18 By and large , the more important a command ( importance being judged by the size of territorial authority , or , more appropriately in time of peace , by the numbers of men involved ) the more likely it was to be given to a man who had achieved it as a result of attendance at court .
19 Santerre seemed cheerful enough , shuffling his feet , warming his hands , and loudly declaring how good it was to be back in his own home and with his own people .
20 She closed the door behind her and joined him on the pavement and as she took several breaths of the crisp October air she suddenly felt how good it was to be alive .
21 I told him how happy I was to be back in his country .
22 This funny fat fool , this symbol of old-style decency was drowned at sea the other day just after declaring how happy he was to be alive .
23 Again Jennie stressed how important it was to be able to use the hand and leg independently .
24 Kermit and his staff watched and waited — they were expecting a blow but they did not or could not comprehend how severe it was to be .
25 ‘ I could almost weep when I think how pleased I was to be returning to England .
26 ‘ They thanked me very much and said how pleased they were to be so well looked after , then they kicked us in the appropriate part of the anatomy . ’
27 The governor offered a formal , white-gloved hand to each member of the Sherman family in turn , but when the affably smiling senator began to say how pleased they were to be there , the aide-de-camp immediately cut him short and motioned the family aside so that the governor could begin a formal speech .
28 Tony gave me his thoughts on the situation — about how pleased he was to be wandering around at four in the morning , in the pitch black , in deep snow , in the cold , in the wind .
29 How essential it was to be able to work , and to be blessed with the will to work .
30 Counsel said that there was evidence that Palmer liked to cuddle and play with the baby and how proud he was to be the baby 's father , as he thought .
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