Example sentences of "had not been for " in BNC.

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1 The complex of disparate elements comprising academic English was always unstable , though they might have stayed together longer if it had not been for the demands of the academic environment .
2 She opened her eyes and was aware of being in her mother 's bed , where she had not been for over ten years .
3 In 1959 Rank claimed that ‘ Britain would now have a healthy industry and a very successful market ’ if it had not been for the insensitivity of the Department of Trade .
4 They should remember that it would all have ended seven matches earlier if it had not been for an 88th-minute equaliser against Bashley on September 16 .
5 Even his magnum opus , Perestroika , written in the summer of 1987 , contained the amazing notion in its first edition that ‘ if it had not been for collectivisation , we could have died from hunger in the war ’ .
6 If it had not been for the extraordinary resilience of Hitler 's Wehrmacht and the fortitude of the German people , it would have done so .
7 Perhaps if it had not been for the Shakoor Rana affair the TCCB might have handled this quietly and sensibly by issuing a non-committal statement and letting the fuss die down .
8 We agreed to have him for a fortnight but when the time came he refused to go , and would be with us yet if it had not been for the First World War and your father having to go …
9 There was a lesson at school I should have loved if it had not been for poor Lucy .
10 They were bare and shabby and if it had not been for the pretty yellow cloths she had made for the tables and the yellow and orange cushions she had covered for the chairs and the blue vase full of roses she had asked Maria to place on the chest of drawers , then they would have been dismal indeed .
11 If it had not been for the shamelessness of it , Wilson felt she might have been sorely tempted to exploit this extraordinary advantage .
12 If it had not been for a visitor arriving then and her being obliged to leave instantly she had no doubt they would have waded into deeper waters and she knew she would not have been sorry .
13 ‘ If it had not been for the difficulties and bruises caused by the recession , I have no doubt there would be an increased majority for the Conservative Party , ’ he said .
14 If it had not been for an alliance of Dr Newman , consultant ecologist Doug Cross and Walter Roberts — three local residents who formed the Camelford Scientific Advisory Panel and conducted their own investigations — and for John Lewis , who lost his job , it is doubtful whether very much would ever have come out about the incident .
15 Many of the greatest treasures in National Trust houses would have been sold abroad long ago if it had not been for the ‘ in lieu ’ system , which was established in 1956 and which enabled private owners to give works of art to the nation in lieu of capital taxes .
16 If it had not been for Agnes 's willingness to help , poor Miss Watson would have been unaided in her weakness .
17 ‘ For my part I believe the African Jesus would have won if it had not been for the Dark Host .
18 Coming after five years of war , when for the first time there did seem to be a tiny light at the end of the tunnel , these new rockets were almost too much for our overstretched nerves , although the situation would no doubt have been very much worse if it had not been for the times when both the RAF and the American Air Force had been out bombing Peenemunde and the other rocket sites .
19 If it had not been for his clothes and the rings on his fingers I would have scarcely recognised him . ’
20 Sleep would have come if it had not been for Hugh 's tossing and moaning .
21 Sleep would have come if it had not been for Hugh 's tossing and moaning .
22 It must have been clear to the Prussian government that if it had not been for government subsidy the Junker estates would have collapsed under their own weight long ago , but they were nevertheless incapable of striking at what they saw to be the basis and guarantor of their state and society .
23 She would have recovered some of her old high spirits if it had not been for a bout of measles and turning more and more to alcohol .
24 Price Waterhouse 's UK practice would have experienced a negative growth rate in fee income in the year to June 1992 , if it had not been for the firm 's corporate recovery arm .
25 He took himself off , illogically cursing Emily Groundwater ; if it had not been for her he would have been in a warm bed , with Bible Willie breathing beside him .
26 ‘ owing to the presence of which ’ This point is normally covered in any witness statement that might be available , viz. ‘ I saw four vehicles were involved etc. ’ or ‘ if it had not been for that vehicle the accident would not have happened ’ .
27 Yet even though he got the chance to fight Mr Bush , he would not now be heading for the White House if it had not been for the disaster which hit the President a few days after that TV interview .
28 But if it had not been for Hillary Clinton 's TV performance and George Bush 's Japanese collapse , neither of them might now be ordering the removal vans .
29 When Aunt Lilian wrote to tell him of my mother 's death — she said she had died from pneumonia — he sent a wreath of lilies and a letter , saying that if it had not been for her tuition , he would not be where he was now .
30 Nor would she have been , if it had not been for him .
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