Example sentences of "if they [was/were] a [noun] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | There would hardly have been harmony between them if they had the same desires , if their interests coincided , if they were a threat to each other . |
| 2 | The Reverend Foster 's beady eyes fixed on the children fumbling for their donations as if they were a parcel of juicy worms to be swooped on if they tried to wriggle away . |
| 3 | Book-writers , Faussone says , produce works ‘ which may be beautiful and all that , but , on the other hand , even if they were a bit defective , excuse the expression , nobody would die , and the only loser is the customer who bought them ’ . |
| 4 | When we looked out the sea-gulls did seem to be weaving in and out and making rather strange but happy sounds — almost as if they were a bit tipsy — and as it turned out , such was the case . |
| 5 | They used to have an imaginary light er an imaginary mark from Cork Lightship to Walton on the Naze and er the men who bought the Cork Lightship , they would take notice every time that hopper went out there , they 'd see when they were dumping cos if that was , if they were a bit cute , some of the boys , they 'd dump a bit short of the dumping ground , that 's what used to happen , cos they 'd report them then to Harwich , Harwich will report them to Harbourmaster at Ipswich , then there 'd be a |
| 6 | At the base of these cliffs , almost as if they had been hewn in the rock by men , were three , four or five cave-mouths , chamber-like , as if they were a row of monastic cells in some monastery . |
| 7 | Children were considered ineligible to be controls if they were a twin , were adopted , or had a serious congenital defect . |
| 8 | Now , with the stilling of the engines , the sudden silence was so absolute that he saw the three motionless figures as if they were a tableau of dummies in a silent world . |
| 9 | Patients with prostatic disease were removed from the survival figures to see if they were a confounder for age ; although overall survival was worse in the remainder , there was still no association with age ( table II ) . |
| 10 | I 'd buy all my CDs here , especially if they were a wee bit cheaper ! ’ |
| 11 | She prowled among the desks and glowered at the action boards as if they were a bunch of football hooligans . |
| 12 | The Japanese preference is to treat suppliers as if they were a department of their own firm — sharing design work and swapping ideas on quality control and manufacturing methods — but one that , because it is separate , is subject to market disciplines . |
| 13 | You encounter as if they were a sort of home Fountains of fern that jet from the coarse loam . |
| 14 | It has to do partly with the feeling , particularly powerful in the 19th century , that the proper role of education , at least at the top end , was to equip gentlemen to run the Empire ; and it seemed reasonable at the time to concentrate not upon mechanics , but upon grand ideals , and the classics were studied as if they were a form of theology , a way of revealing fundamental and lasting human truths This , perhaps , is why anti-science is strongest in Britain , because we took Empire most seriously . |
| 15 | Then with slow deliberation they walked on , their spades clasped to them , as if they were a band of ancient warriors . |
| 16 | I accepted all of this without thinking it in any way unusual , even though my father used to boast about Billy 's achievements as if they were a matter for civic pride . |
| 17 | Customers who declined to pay cash across the counter with ‘ real ’ money , a cheque or by direct debit , or produced a bank credit card , found the price of their purchases greatly increased if they were a store card holder . |
| 18 | Surely it is time we stopped talking of elephants as if they were a commodity to be traded , like so many cans of paint , and accept them for what they are , ancient and splendid fellow inhabitants of the earth who share with us the joys of close kinship bonds and grieve when they are severed . |
| 19 | Still gripping the blankets as if they were a lifeline , she stared back at fitzAlan , completely speechless . |
| 20 | He scrutinized the documents as if they were a puzzle picture in which he had to spot the deliberate mistakes . |
| 21 | The supporters do not consistently play some of the Club 's best players out of position to accommodate players so far past their sell-by date that if they were a tin of fish paste there 's be an outbreak of salmonella the length and breadth of Mersey Street ! |
| 22 | You knew who was Black if they were a colleague , and who was gay if they had come out at work . |
| 23 | They were very much caught up in the opinion that if they were an indie band , it could n't possibly be worth a major record company taking them seriously . |