Example sentences of "could have [vb pp] a [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | If only she could have waved a magic wand to turn the fat girl into a raving beauty . |
| 2 | Nothing could have prepared a loyal , loving wife for such shocks . |
| 3 | Had it continued , however , the rebel university could have become a rival establishment to both Oxford and Cambridge . |
| 4 | The difficulty here is best demonstrated when Honderich , analyzing the notion that Conservatism is a ‘ defence of the familiar ’ , argues that if this were central to Conservatism ‘ we should have a mystery on our hands , the mystery of how an egregious idiocy could have become a large political tradition ’ . |
| 5 | Hatton could have done a nice little distracting job there . |
| 6 | Had the Home Office research shown that the majority of offences within reported crime were thought to be committed by people on probation , under SSD supervision , or on community programmes , one could have understood a post-trial response . |
| 7 | Oh I 'm alright do n't worry about me I 'm , they , the person at home , their family must be told as well as you making a note in your accident book that there has been somebody with a knock on the head however mi minor it is , it 's got to be reported , because that knock could have repercussions , it could have broken a small vessel in the brain , it could still be bleeding and that is when compression takes over . |
| 8 | You could have built a substantial career . ’ |
| 9 | Mr Goldring said Bradley was transferred to a hospital in Nottingham where doctors found it difficult to understand how such a young child could have suffered a cardiac arrest . |
| 10 | Few voters could have obtained a real grasp of the issues at stake and hardly any would have been in a position to assess the leadership qualities of the candidates on offer . |
| 11 | They are the people who can refer clients on to solicitors and it is highly likely that the ‘ Advisory Liaison Service ’ and the proposed liaison officers could have played a significant part in making and fostering those contacts . |
| 12 | Badham ( 1981 ) has suggested that the basinal Lower Silurian shales to the west of the carbonate shelf facies could have formed a suitable depositional environment for mineralisation of the SEDEX style . |
| 13 | Perhaps the police had n't searched in there ; if not , they could have missed a vital clue after all . |
| 14 | Any of them could have hidden a secret staircase . |
| 15 | By stripping the Volta scheme of all the ancillary facilities which could have stimulated a Ghanaian industrial revolution , Kaiser and Reynolds succeeded in creating the conditions for one of the most prosperous aluminium smelters in the world … at what was then the lowest power rate in the world . |
| 16 | Although the Poles could have exercised a military option in the north just as they had done in Silesia , by this time their involvement in a war against the infant Soviet state , over territories and borders in the eastern provinces , made this a logistical impossibility . |
| 17 | Parliament , had it been required to do so by the European Court of Human Rights , could have made a small , interstitial alteration of the law by , for example , merely amending the relevant section of the Birth and Death Registration Act 1953 ; or used the opportunity to undertake a wholesale revision of the law as it affects transsexuals . |
| 18 | ‘ I could have made a real mess of that hole , but I took a calculated gamble and it paid off , ’ added Faldo , who walked off the green with a bogey four — one shot less than he registered in the first round . |
| 19 | I could have made a real fortune becoming Mr Vietnam , I could have hit the lecture circuit , I could have spun it out into a fabulous little industry , but that 's not interesting . |
| 20 | Perhaps only Barrie could have made a successful match between two such unpromising characters — a man who boasts that he has never laughed in his life and a woman who is acutely aware of being devoid of charm . |
| 21 | It 's tricky , as someone who skis and mountaineers , to whine about the encroachment of ski developments in Scotland , especially when the developers of Aonach Mor spilt so much ink about how they were ‘ conservation friendly ’ , they could have made a major motion picture out of their press releases . |
| 22 | Eddie Gray is genuinely regarded by some clever football people to have been every bit as good as best , and could have made a similar name for himself had he not been dogged by injury . |
| 23 | Piggy might have been able to save the boys ; as with his sensible , mature attitude resulting from the trauma caused by his parents ' death , he could have made a great impact on the boys . |
| 24 | In each case good advice to the individual or family could have made a crucial difference . |
| 25 | Had I known that the previous year , I could have made a good case to contest the abolition of my old job . |
| 26 | ‘ Yes , I 'm sorry too , we could have made a good team , in business at least , though I realize we could never be friends or anything of that sort , but I 'm convinced it could have worked . |
| 27 | A very thoughtful cricketer , with a much greater knowledge of the game 's history than most players , one had the impression that he could have made a fine Test captain had the chance come earlier . |
| 28 | Had you said this first instead of producing emotional gush about the hospital 's welfare , we could have saved a good deal of time . |
| 29 | If the British governments of the 1980s had been elected by proportional representation , it is almost unthinkable that any party could have gained a sufficient majority to impose the sweeping reforms instituted by Mrs Thatcher — or that decisive government of any hue could be achieved in the future . |
| 30 | Things would have kindled if they could have demonstrated , or if Prince Charles could have uttered a single sentence of political substance . |