Example sentences of "[modal v] only [verb] be [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Michele 's silvery-green eyes seemed to look straight into her brain , and for what seemed minutes , but could only have been split-seconds , Luce stood paralysed , before shaking her head . |
| 2 | So when the third Whitley appeared overhead ( incidentally , Murphy said that could only have been Mahaddie ) Donnet recalled thinking that was no gentleman , and that was no Englishman . |
| 3 | Fifteen minutes later , a woman , who could only have been Sara , found the door unbarred . |
| 4 | It was thanks to them that he learned that the hunt was on for a leak on the Washington embassy wartime staff which could only have been Maclean . |
| 5 | Natch if the operation had gotten the go-code , that List would only have been part of it . |
| 6 | Perhaps of more significance was their estimate of the cost of the rise in unemployment from 1979 to 1985 : they estimated that if the figure had remained at the 1979 level , the cost to the Exchequer in 1984–85 would only have been £7.5 bn . |
| 7 | ( Ironically , there can only have been months between the publication of Hutchinson 's boastful book and calling in the liquidators ) . |
| 8 | They can only have been insignia marking the lady 's status as a royal consort . |