Example sentences of "had [be] unable " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | How often had this meant an edgy evening , when she had been unable to concentrate on what people were saying because of an ill-placed fabric rose or an over-embroidered antique shawl ? |
| 2 | At the time , most observers believed that the real reason was that the BBC had been unable to persuade the newly-elected Conservative government to contribute towards the cost of setting up ( about £3million at 1977 prices ) or running a dedicated traffic service . |
| 3 | Ferrari argued that proper procedures had not been followed in Portugal and that Mansell had been unable to hear the instructions on his radio as he travelled at 170 mph past the pits . |
| 4 | One girl said that she had been unable to breathe , and was only able to do so when she covered her face with a pillow . |
| 5 | The consortium behind the $7bn management buyout , in which BA would have a 15 per cent stake , admitted yesterday that it had been unable to complete its part of the financing . |
| 6 | Psychiatrists had been unable to find anything of significance to explain his actions . |
| 7 | The Prime Minister , after all , had been unable to change everything ‘ totally and utterly ’ . |
| 8 | The Royal Air Force Memorial Fund ( later to become the RAF Benevolent Fund ) had originally hoped to erect a memorial on ground between Westminster Abbey and St Margaret 's Church , but they had been unable to get permission . |
| 9 | The police station was not yet half a dozen years old , but ever since its completion the powers that be , like fussy housewives , had been unable to let well alone , adding innovation after innovation , perpetually trying to improve their handiwork . |
| 10 | This was advice which he had been unable to fallow himself . |
| 11 | Foreign diplomats said the lack of a further reshuffle after a meeting of the central advisory commission meant Deng had been unable to persuade other party elders to retire to smooth the transfer of power to his heir . |
| 12 | He said that he had been given no information about the departure and even late yesterday , had been unable to reach government officials responsible for refugee matters . |
| 13 | Of the 383 state production plans , 148 had been unable to meet their target — more than double the previous figure of 65 . |
| 14 | Britain had been unable to protect Czechoslovakia or Poland in 1938–39 , and every month before a possible invasion meant more aircraft , guns and ships . |
| 15 | In spite of the best efforts of the health service , we had been unable to persuade the public that by far the bigger danger was of children not being inoculated . |
| 16 | Though the campaign scarcely gripped the imagination as the victories in the west had done — some reports hinted that the significance of the campaign had not been properly grasped , and that the victories had been unable to affect the popular mood for more than a very short time — it seemed to provide yet another example of Hitler 's strategic genius . |
| 17 | Her eyes leapt from Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob to Verse 25 of the Gospel According to St Matthew , to which she had turned simply because it began the New Testament and she had been unable to make anything of the Old . |
| 18 | Now his hunting rifle had lost a piece from its firing mechanism and he had been unable to replace it . |
| 19 | Mackie at that time had been unable to conceive and was troubled and unhappy because of it . |
| 20 | Lord Lane paid tribute to his ‘ team ’ of judges and revealed that over the past four years he had reviewed almost 1,500 life sentences — a task he had been unable to delegate and which he willingly relinquished to his successor , Lord Justice Taylor . |
| 21 | American Express said it had received about 100 complaints so far this year from card members who had booked accommodation — only fly-cruises in the Bahamas — some for as little as £99.50 — and who had been unable to board ship . |
| 22 | American Express said it had received about 100 complaints so far this year from card members who had booked accommodation — only fly-cruises in the Bahamas — some for as little as £99.50 — and who had been unable to board ship . |
| 23 | Now he could start on all the little jobs he had been unable to do . |
| 24 | In his own published letter relating to the episode Major Wiseman stated that three planes had taken off , had been unable to locate the dropping zone , had turned back , and that one had failed to return and ‘ was presumed shot down in the Channel ’ . |
| 25 | They had been unable to find the target , but had dropped and had become widely scattered . |
| 26 | One of the three members had been unable to attend the meeting at which these appeals were heard and a decision made on all the appeals . |
| 27 | As in many other areas of the country , the paper mills there had been unable to compete with bigger mills , sited close to larger areas of manufacturing . |
| 28 | But , last night , she had been unable to sleep . |
| 29 | Bogged down in Mexico and denied any support from Britain , Napoleon III had been unable to exercise any influence during the war which Prussia had forced on Denmark in 1864 and Bismarck was determined that there should also be no interference in the war which he now planned with Austria . |
| 30 | The Emir Bashir the Third , who ruled Mount Lebanon for the Sublime Porte in Istanbul , had been unable to contain the bitter disputes which had broken out between the two communities . |