Example sentences of "have not been for [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Although the Church was slow off the mark following the population migration and concentration in the expanding towns during the Industrial Revolution , failure has not been for want of trying . |
| 2 | Even his magnum opus , Perestroika , written in the summer of 1987 , contained the amazing notion in its first edition that ‘ if it had not been for collectivisation , we could have died from hunger in the war ’ . |
| 3 | It must have been clear to the Prussian government that if it had not been for government subsidy the Junker estates would have collapsed under their own weight long ago , but they were nevertheless incapable of striking at what they saw to be the basis and guarantor of their state and society . |
| 4 | The whole room , scented with the Christmas goose , seemed to glimmer with warmth and merriment and if it had not been for fear of distressing the children , Alexandra would have been happy to burst into tears . |
| 5 | Jack always saw Piggy as a burden and if it had not been for Piggy 's spectacles Piggy would have been even more hated by Jack . |
| 6 | ‘ If it had n't been for Sleet , then what ? ’ |
| 7 | ‘ If it had n't been for Home Rule in the South , would Ulster have been ruled by Presbyterians in Belfast ? ’ |
| 8 | I had no intention just then of attempting such a thing , but as I lay awake that night I realised that if it had n't been for Lili I might have felt it necessary to attempt to describe to someone , anyone , what I knew of God and what he had asked of me . |
| 9 | His wife , who was an invalid at the time , told the Sun ‘ If it had n't been for state benefit and my family , Jade and I would have starved . ’ |
| 10 | If it had n't been for Desmond she would never have got through them . |
| 11 | If it had n't been for rock'n'roll , they 'd have dropped a bomb on someone else . |