StringNet search result

Example sentences of "what it [modal v] [prep] " in BNC.

No	Sentence
1	Mr Ford has shown an absence of leadership and an absence of grasp of what this country is and what it ought to be . ’
2	To say what it ought to be would be to express attitudes of his own , which he does not regard as the task of the kind of philosopher like himself who is , in his professional work , trying to understand ethical discussion rather than to participate in it .
3	He did not concern himself with the business of creating such a society , only with the description of what it ought to be like : the actual propositions in the book are not to be taken literally , in other words , since he was offering only the ideal model of a better civilization .
4	At the same time he was prone to a feeling of guilt that his art was not what it ought to be .
5	The minister could never say to the board , ‘ right , now you have a logical remit , go away and fulfil it and so long as your rate of return is what it ought to be , we will not interfere ’ ( SCNI 1968 : 431 , 434–6 ) .
6	just think , think of what it would of cost to get them boards and you would n't of got them as easy as that .
7	Bolivia is no longer the tremendously cheap country it was five or six years ago , and anything organised expressly for foreign travellers costs almost what it would in Europe .
8	Speaking to BBC radio , Lawrence Eagleburger said the US had done what it could for an agreement on farm subsidies , which had derailed the talks .
9	No distribution network in the world could have survived without damage the severe weather which struck that part of Britain in December 1990 , but the regional electricity company concerned , with help from other companies and from overseas , did what it could in the circumstances to connect those who were temporarily cut off .
10	Knowing what I do now [ he says ] , I think the DIA was looking for a way to get me back to Beirut to salvage what it could from the Asmar wreck .
11	ON FARM after farm around us the potato harvest is coming in — but the lifting of spuds is not what it used to be .
12	‘ Nostalgia ai n't what it used to be , ’ interjected Andrew , quoting the latest college graffiti .
13	But they said the number was only a fraction of what it used to be .
14	It is a great name , though some say the atmosphere at the ‘ Kempi ’ is not what it used to be .
15	Gerald Peach , sing secretary , said that , though it was not what it used to be , ‘ it is a tradition we are anxious to maintain ’ .
16	Of course that is just what it used to be for before the invasion of the television and the mobile office .
17	My wife was the first to notice it : running a bath was n't what it used to be ; no more gush of water , just a diminishing trickle .
18	Payola is n't what it used to be .
19	The future ai n't what it used to be
20	English cricket is n't what it used to be .
21	‘ First , I thought French was a chic language , ’ he explained , ‘ and then you know , I saw all those photos of Germany before the war and I thought life would never be what it used to be .
22	Fleet Street ai n't what it used to be .
23	my acuity is not what it used to be
24	My voice is n't what it used to be . ’
25	‘ Dear diary , history is n't what it used to be . ’
26	My intention was to arrive here during hours of daylight , but the charity of our road-users is not what it used to be .
27	Two fine , upstanding members of staff attend a Christmas party in the staff canteen , c.1971 — which just goes to show that Christmas in the National Library is not what it used to be !
28	But even though nostalgia may not be what it used to be , even for these people there are good reasons for staying in touch .
29	That 's what it used to be .
30	Except that their role is more obscure to the public eye , the authorities ' influence over short-term interest rates is not very different from what it used to be when they announced an MLR each week and expected institutions to comply .