Example sentences of "before [pers pn] could " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | ‘ I decided it was time to say goodbye , but before I could give notice Sam Hall , the Benskin 's area manager , phoned me to say the company was going to turn the Harrow into a managed house . |
| 2 | Happily Lendl 's humour resurfaced when he was asked what difference marriage had made : ‘ Before I could do everything I wanted to do , now I have to ask . ’ |
| 3 | Taff continued talking in his very strong Welsh accent as he inspected the Bren , asking questions and giving himself the answers before I could get a word in . |
| 4 | Before I could reply a shell burst a short distance away sending a hail of shrapnel tearing through the branches of the trees above us . |
| 5 | Before I could say anything he continued with , ‘ You must have a girlfriend somewhere , Piper , a smart-looking bloke like you . ’ |
| 6 | Before I could answer his questions he remarked slowly , ‘ You know , Boyo , I had a bloody good dream . |
| 7 | Before I could do anything , two medics came sprinting along the path from the direction of the big house . |
| 8 | Before I could say anything , Taff remarked , ‘ Come on , Boyo . |
| 9 | Before I could answer , he barked , ‘ Right , fall out . ’ |
| 10 | Before I could think any more my mouth had decided . |
| 11 | But before I could say anything he started to shout at me , saying ‘ Mrs Desai , you ca n't talk back to me or to Mr Diffy or Mr Mike . ’ |
| 12 | ‘ Then , before I could stop her she got my father out of bed and told him the whole thing . |
| 13 | She fled before I could finish . |
| 14 | Before I could twist my face into anything faintly resembling a sneer , the vendor explained that there were four such structures in a similar state of repair and that a Frenchman had expressed great interest . |
| 15 | Our Gofer ( a young woman ) grabbed his hand before I could say anything and said , ‘ Great , show me will you ? ’ and dashed off with him in tow , coats flying . |
| 16 | Before I could examine them , I was buffeted by a gust of wind and rain . |
| 17 | Before I could comment , a nurse came to fetch her to see Harry , and she went anxiously , calling over her shoulder for me to wait for her ; and when she returned half an hour later she looked dazed . |
| 18 | A slim attractive girl in jeans hovered near , her pose suggesting I could approach her ; but before I could do so Señora Sanchez accosted me . |
| 19 | And before I could resolve the problem I was struggling up in bed , in the pitch blackness , reaching for the shrilling telephone . |
| 20 | His agitation seemed an aspect of my fading dream , and it was several moments before I could take in what he was saying . |
| 21 | It was as though playing in the Wendy House was something I had to do before I could settle to weightier matters . |
| 22 | I refer to my letter to you of 18 May last , in which I explained that the Agreement that you had signed for the above tape had not been signed on behalf of Oxford University Press , and that the duplicate copy which you had retained for your records needed to be returned to us for signature in Oxford before I could despatch your copy of the tape to you . |
| 23 | The first day at the newspaper they sent me into the darkroom with a roll of film and I think I was in the closet for about five hours before I could figure out how to put it on the reel . ’ |
| 24 | I began to make my way towards the doors , but before I could reach them , M. Dupont touched my arm . |
| 25 | Before I could gather myself properly , I found myself being dragged across the desert at more than thirty miles per hour by the wind … . |
| 26 | Before I could say , ‘ You bastards ’ , they were specks in the mist as I huddled from the blizzard behind a boulder wondering if I wanted to be sick yet . |
| 27 | I saw him disappear but , before I could say anything Fergus started yelling . |
| 28 | Sometimes , when he had been sitting near the side of the boat , an ill-considered back cast sent him flying into the water ; and often it was a close run thing before I could get the landing net under his sodden frame . |
| 29 | A decision had to be made ; or maybe it already had been made by Copper , because if he had decided to lie down before I could get back to him his leg would have been broken irreparably . |
| 30 | Before I could do this someone snatched my handbag and made off with it . |