Example sentences of "surprise [pron] by [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Allegedly unhappy about the sanitation and the cockroaches but by his own admission surprising himself by pining for ‘ Kensington , Belgravia , phone boxes and iron railings ’ , Lawrence returned to Blighty and spent an extended sojourn in Windsor , where he assembled Denim around him . |
| 2 | Once-stuffy AT&T has surprised everyone by displaying plenty of this . |
| 3 | Her mother had surprised everyone by dying just as they were recovering from her husband 's death . |
| 4 | Chapman eventually forced the ball over the line after Cantona had surprised him by passing instead of shooting when McAllister , released from emergency duty at right-back , crossed from the left . |
| 5 | I seem to have surprised myself by getting well ahead with this and I outline current plans below . |
| 6 | The baton is , however , necessary at the Opéra , where large choruses are frequently sung in the wings … it must not be thought that such a distant group of singers can hear the orchestra , however numerous : each person sings in his neighbour 's ear , and I have sometimes surprised myself by singing off the beat and incorrectly conducting [ conduisant ] the chorus surrounding me . |
| 7 | One surprised me by mimicking the bubbling call of a curlew . |
| 8 | But David surprised me by saying , ‘ OK , now we 've got that out of the way , let's go and do the rest of the album ’ . |
| 9 | ‘ I hate cocaine , ’ he said finally , and he surprised me by saying it for the Maggot had always struck me as one of life 's rebels . |
| 10 | Chang surprised me by winning the French Open so soon . ’ |
| 11 | Michael is a man who knows his own mind and I was relying on him for some controversial quotes , but he surprised me by agreeing on the whole with Mr Isherwood 's choices . |
| 12 | The business of the Council was soon dealt with and merged into general feasting when the King surprised everyone by announcing he intended to join the Queen at Kinghorn . |
| 13 | This week the hearing reached a milestone with the first session of full cross-examination — a baptism of fire for the Department of Energy , which surprised everyone by agreeing to be interrogated on the full gamut of Whitehall 's current thinking on energy policy . |
| 14 | The conservatives surprised everyone by agreeing to defy the government and overspend by almost as much … ten million . |
| 15 | We all know the story of the two beautiful swans who brought forth what was regarded as an ugly duckling but which later surprised everyone by turning into a swan itself . |
| 16 | He surprised himself by talking aloud : ‘ A nice cup of tea , that 's what I need . ’ |
| 17 | She felt numb and tired and surprised herself by managing to sleep deeply and well . |
| 18 | ‘ My maternal grandfather was Italian , ’ she surprised herself by replying , reaching for her refilled glass , extending it towards Rune and going once more through the motions he had taught her . |
| 19 | Marguerite surprised her by nodding wryly and making a small grimace . |
| 20 | Ferdinando surprised her by having someone write a letter for him towards the end of March which made it plain that Mrs Browning had fared no better in Rome than in Siena and was very ill . |
| 21 | He narrowed his eyes at her , then surprised her by smiling . |
| 22 | Then he surprised her by smiling . |
| 23 | Then he surprised her by asking , ‘ Just one thing bothers me . |
| 24 | The Minister surprised him by getting up . |
| 25 | Taylor was upset with Platt before the Turkey game for not informing him of the serious nature of the injury but the player surprised him by playing at Wembley with his usual effectiveness . |
| 26 | He surprised everybody by choosing a 7 foot gauge to increase capacity and improve the ride . |
| 27 | We were doubtful as to whether Owen would lie still long enough for a back massage , but he surprised us by putting up with it for about ten minutes . |
| 28 | He would surprise everyone by getting a new speech right , but then show that it had been at the expense of other sections of dialogue . |
| 29 | They wanted to surprise him by jumping out and saying ‘ Happy birthday ! ’ after he 'd seen the presents . |
| 30 | He recommends the phrase ‘ care of the body ’ to be used in discussion with clients and continues to surprise us by telling us that in his experience of funeral-arranging he has never yet had anything but a positive response to , ‘ Would you like us to look after mother in our usual way , so that you will be assured of having an everlasting memory of her sleeping peacefully and at rest ? ’ |