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Example sentences of "could [adv] [verb] been [noun] " in BNC.

No	Sentence
1	Michele 's silvery-green eyes seemed to look straight into her brain , and for what seemed minutes , but could only have been split-seconds , Luce stood paralysed , before shaking her head .
2	So when the third Whitley appeared overhead ( incidentally , Murphy said that could only have been Mahaddie ) Donnet recalled thinking that was no gentleman , and that was no Englishman .
3	Fifteen minutes later , a woman , who could only have been Sara , found the door unbarred .
4	It was thanks to them that he learned that the hunt was on for a leak on the Washington embassy wartime staff which could only have been Maclean .
5	We remember the great names like Lyell or Darwin , and forget the supporting cast without which they could not have been stars : those in museums classifying their findings .
6	Not only is there no suggestion in the biographical sources or in documents that Fahreddin Acemi ever held a kadilik , but there is also positive evidence that for long periods in his Muftilik he could not have been kadi of Edirne , at least , since someone else was .
7	Dinosaurs could not have been moribund because they were still diversifying into new orders .
8	No one was injured but factory inspectors say there could easily have been casualities .
9	No donor 's name is even hinted at but it could easily have been Lance Henly .
10	It surprised me but it could easily have been tiredness from being out so long .
11	Rosa often went to the washplace with Sabina to help her and she was glad that she could pull her blue cotton dress out of the basket and slosh it into the water before anyone else could examine it for stains ; not that the stain spoke openly of its origins ; it could easily have been milk , thought Rosa .
12	This Mr Deputy Speaker , could easily have been accommodation had the bill been brought to the house just seven weeks earlier than it actually was brought to the house , seven weeks were n't the problem .
13	Only tame , domesticated animals could possibly have been part of the goods and chattels of that early band of pioneers , striking out for a new island home .
14	This could hardly have been coincidence .
15	‘ It could still have been Brampton ! ’
16	Yes , it could still have been Tutilo who finished what Jerome had begun . ’
17	Her ‘ after ’ photographs portrayed a very very different shaped lady — one you would not have believed could ever have been pear shaped .
18	It is extraordinary to imagine that she and my mother could ever have been sisters , they were like beings from different species .
19	It could also have been irritation .
20	‘ Could n't have been Erdle she saw , ’ replied Iris .
21	But it could n't have been Rebel .
22	It could n't have been David because David knew she would be out at work , and knew that Ralph was staying with her .
23	Nenna knew that , but she was sure it could n't have been Edward 's fault , and at the moment she could n't be bothered with it .
24	It could n't have been Gloria , for Gloria knew that Dot always slept in her vest and knickers .
25	Fitzgerald was fascinated by the director type and in his story ‘ Mightier than the sword ’ he offered a portrait of a man who could well have been King Vidor :
26	It could well have been shingles .
27	The two were just muscle , but the third man could well have been Michael Lee , Katherine Lundy 's notorious henchmen .
28	Had Norwich not defeated Notts County in the fifth round that afternoon , it could well have been Mr Stringer 's first and last address to the nation 's footballing public .
29	‘ That could never have been John .
30	And whilst it was never , it could never have been God 's will for Naomi to backslide with Elimelech her husband , and to go into Moab out of the mess that they make of their life , out of the mistakes that they , they perpetrate again and again , God somehow in his graciousness , in his mercy brings goodness from it !