Example sentences of "[modal v] only [vb infin] [verb] [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | This may only serve to aggravate matters further and undermine your role as a neutral . |
| 2 | Also , it can not be ignored that Marco did n't have many options , since Eddie was about to kill him , and Marco 's actions were in self-defence : I think that Marco may only have beaten Eddie up had he not drawn the knife , but not killed him . |
| 3 | Elves , like dragons , are embedded deeply in several different traditions of North-West Europe , and the inconsistencies of those traditions may only have made Tolkien itch to create a Zusammenhang . |
| 4 | Wear Valley Council may only have promised Stanley United FC two footballs ( Gadfly March 4 ) but the hidden agenda looks more promising . |
| 5 | At the stage in the growth of a scientific discovery when it is no longer just internal but has not yet become a formal paper , then the scholarly interchange would have depended on whom individuals knew or knew of , the letter writing would be unmanaged and survive by chance ( often only one side of the story ) and , due to concern that ideas should not be stolen , may only have taken place at a late stage of the discovery process . |
| 6 | William and Gladys Wilkins had paid £23,000 for the work — which experts said should only have cost £2,700 . |
| 7 | The advice offered in Chapter 8 on more effective reading was that you should only begin to take notes after a first reading — when you 've grasped the structure and got the gist of the topic being dealt with . |
| 8 | My first name was Philip , but when I was a small child I could only manage to say Pip . |
| 9 | It is inconceivable that Eliza would have married Wickham , just as Lucy could only have married George . |
| 10 | Everything seemed to have happened in excruciatingly slow motion , yet common sense said the entire incident could only have lasted seconds . |
| 11 | North Korea and the Soviet Union could only have drawn encouragement in the belief that America would most likely not act with vigour if North Korea moved against the south to reunify the peninsula . |
| 12 | Any move by the army in the region would only serve to strengthen Kabul 's hand in the region and reinforce Wali Khan 's position as an opposition leader . |
| 13 | Many artists would only wish to portray Windermere in sunny weather and would turn it into a different place , but he managed to evoke any real day in the Lake District as it were in its right clothes . |
| 14 | To have done so would only have raised expectations and created disappointment without necessarily allaying the suspicions concerning the objectivity of an inevitably subjective selection procedure . |
| 15 | Anyone entering from outside would only have seen Jim with his feet up in front of the fire , reading a thriller . |
| 16 | That morning they parted under the trees , he never took her all the way to the gates , that would only have made things worse , that morning she looked the way she always looked , rings under her eyes and her whole body braced for the ordeal that lay ahead , how hard it was to leave her always , maybe that was why they always drew the parting out , sometimes it took minutes , just the saying goodbye , they backed away from each other , then stopped and called something out , then backed away again , they called out special words that they 'd made up , words to fill the distance between them , words for the things they could n't say , they backed away till he was under the trees or she was through the gates , whichever happened first , she looked the same way she always looked that morning , except for one thing , she had a clock tucked under her arm , the clock they 'd found together , the clock that did n't tick , the lonely clock . |
| 17 | He would have liked to have gone to his brother 's funeral but he thought it would only have made matters worse . |
| 18 | But my present belief is that if Profumo had come to me for advice ( and my advice , of course , would only have made sense if one postulates that Profumo would have told me the truth ) , I would have recommended that he should throw in the towel ; assert that he had no intention of allowing his private life to be discussed in public ; apologise to the Prime Minister for the embarrassment he had caused both to him and to the party , and withdraw rapidly . |
| 19 | You would only have to spend £1,400 more than the price of the Metro to acquire a 16 valve Renault Clio and that really is a different class of car altogether . |
| 20 | Some of his staff had urged that he abandon the Duchess 's ball , but such an act , he knew , would only have offered encouragement to the Emperor 's many supporters in Brussels and could even have prompted the wholesale desertion of Belgian troops . |
| 21 | Without it , the county education authority would only have had £650,000 to spend on building work this year . |
| 22 | The girl , whoever she was , despite the aristocratic looks and fine body which had at first misled them , would only have found houseroom within the palace compound as an under-servant . |
| 23 | If , for example , I am engaged in reading a text on a subject in which I am well versed ( where the ideational or content schema is familiar ) , which has been written in a manner conventionally associated with writing on this subject ( where the interpersonal or formal schema is familiar ) , then I shall only need to pay attention to the linguistic signs to the extent that they key in this schematic knowledge and indicate how it is to be extended . |
| 24 | Certainly they will have a presence in the instant sector that will be created but they will only want to hold shares in two or three companies . |
| 25 | Inevitably , the £10 increase in the connection charge will only serve to put telephone ownership out of the reach of more elderly people . |
| 26 | If this difference is simply accepted , it will only serve to strengthen stereotypes . |
| 27 | Whether you can keep water out of the joints also depends on how well the old and new wood are held together : glue will only help to prevent shrinkage cracks if the new wood is well-fitting . |
| 28 | Employees who benefit from inhouse perks , such as concessionary travel facilities or free sports or entertainment tickets , will only have to pay tax on the marginal cost of concessions , rather than on the average cost charged to the public , following the House of Lords ' ruling in Pepper v Hart ( see also this issue , pp 22 and 85 ) . |
| 29 | Woodlands , however , can be at some distance , as people will only need to fetch firewood , poles , and so on for tools and fencing , or timber for construction , periodically . |
| 30 | Whereas the majority of these will eventually have to submit to similar assessment and testing procedures as the core , it seems likely that art and music will only need to establish attainment guidelines . |