Example sentences of "it could [adv] [vb infin] [conj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | But Central Office could exert only informal pressure , since it could neither bully nor bribe its local supporters , and this is exactly what Steel-Maitland set out to do through his district agents . |
| 2 | It may overlook the fact that science could become a very rebellious offspring ; and , as an apologetic strategy , it could easily backfire if science ( as some believe it has been ) were to be devalued in public estimation through association with polluting and exploitative technologies . |
| 3 | It could both prolong and improve the quality of the lives of sufferers . |
| 4 | The Midland spent more than £1bn on acquisitions round the world between 1979 and 1981 , money it could barely afford because of its capital weakness . |
| 5 | It could however intervene if any of the following defects were present : if the agency relied on factors which Congress had not intended it to consider ; failed to consider an important aspect of the problem ; offered an explanation which ran counter to the evidence before the agency ; was so implausible that it could not be sustained ; or failed to provide a record which substantiated their findings . |
| 6 | It could also ensure that allegations of torture , rape and deaths in custody are impartially investigated , that those responsible are brought to justice and that the victims and their families are compensated . |
| 7 | The sentence ‘ We have only shown that A is justified if B and C are ’ could mean , as was pretended above , that we have shown A 's justification to be conditional on that of B and C ; but it could also mean that if B and C are in fact justified , we have shown that A is , i.e. that the success of our demonstration is conditional , not the justification we have demonstrated . |
| 8 | But it could also mean that erm they were getti that it they had been successful in getting taxation from what they 'd done since the beginning of cos they felt they could go even further . |
| 9 | It could also indicate that there is uncertainty about Reilly 's support team , which consists principally of Les Bettinson , the manager , and Phil Larder , the national director of coaching . |
| 10 | It could also indicate that there is uncertainty about Reilly 's support team , which consists principally of Les Bettinson , the manager , and Phil Larder , the national director of coaching . |
| 11 | It could also indicate that you have reached the end of the road with one enterprise . |
| 12 | ‘ Well , if you 're tellin' me that our cellar leads out to the East River , then it follows that the East River leads to our cellar , and it could just happen that somebody would leave a door open somewhere , and we 'd have the whole of the East River down round our feet . ’ |
| 13 | Once or twice lately he 's mentioned the possibility that he might ‘ change his way of life ’ which could mean that he intended to get married , but with Francis it could equally mean that he was thinking of taking up golf or ludo . ’ |
| 14 | This may not help the market go up , but it could well ensure that any setback is only modest , ’ says Mr Tora . |
| 15 | Secondly , an individual post-hole can not easily be assigned to any particular building phase , since any datable artefact found within it could either pre-date or post-date the structure for which the hole was dug . |
| 16 | ANY attempt at a face-to-face meeting with the IRA is a dangerous operation , because it could either help or hinder the cause of peace . |
| 17 | It could either provide that all married women should hold their property as their separate property — thus giving to all married women the right to dispose of their property and to make contracts binding it which formerly could only be given to them by a will or a settlement ; or it could adopt the more straightforward course of making the capacity of a married woman to own property , make contracts , and incur liability for torts the same as that of a man . |
| 18 | Of course , it could simply mean that winter foetuses might not get the same diet as others . |
| 19 | If it did not , it could always argue that many more children would be withdrawn from school altogether . |
| 20 | Well , it could never happen because I think we 're incapable of making a plan like that . |
| 21 | If the DEA had used it to provide a cover identity for somebody in Egypt , it could hardly admit that in open court or explain how it had come by the certificate in the first place . |
| 22 | He said it would be a mistake , ‘ a mistake in sentiment ; for it could only mean that we were embalming the corpse of something that is n't really dead and need n't die at all — an aesthetic mistake — because we do n't really want to have the taste of our schooldays established as a boundary for our whole lives ’ . |
| 23 | If the horse had been doped , it could only mean that someone in Bill 's yard had been involved . |
| 24 | It could only mean that his own future as Duke was doubly assured . |
| 25 | It was held that , although refusal to grant licences did not amount to an abuse as such , it could so do if refusal was arbitrary or if prices were fixed at unfair levels or if the right owner stopped making spare parts . |
| 26 | Even though she 'd been dead for so long it could sometimes seem that she was still with him , a presence in the next room , someone on the other side of a door who waited and listened but who never stepped through , except when he dreamed . |
| 27 | Clearly the realities of space flight from 1957 on ( manned , from 1961 ) made fantasy outdated unless it could visually match or outdistance such scientific advances . |