Example sentences of "[vb past] [be] unable " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | On her last visit I 'd been unable to take my eyes off her gold earrings and her bangles . |
| 2 | On arrival I went to the Met Office to see the TAF which we 'd been unable to obtain at Vigo , and the forecast was three at 2,800 , with no mention of stratus ! |
| 3 | Gravellier felt nervous , so nervous he 'd been unable to eat any breakfast . |
| 4 | Drenched in Shalimar , wearing her pearls , because her diamonds might make people who 'd been unable to change feel under-dressed , Enid awaited her guests , radiating regality . |
| 5 | For instance , it 's perfectly obvious that what I was trying to do for my clients was patch up their lives and their relationships in a way that I 'd been unable to do for my parents . |
| 6 | The fact was , she 'd been unable to get to sleep the previous night for thinking about Harry . |
| 7 | Having played little part in the August riots ( epitomised by the derisory slogan , ‘ IRA — I Ran Away ’ ) , old IRA men came out of retirement ( Rose , 1972 ) and ‘ there was a steady stream of recruits from young men who had seen houses and streets burnt down by Loyalist mobs and who 'd been unable to prevent them ’ ( Farrell , 1980:267 ) . |
| 8 | She glanced up at the ceiling once , as if in appreciation of the solution to a tough puzzle that she 'd been unable to crack without help ; the tile was still stuck in the open position , and Charlie was in no state to clamber up there and fix it . |
| 9 | I 'd got the riding gear from Duncan , but he 'd been unable to come up with a red helmet with black visor . |
| 10 | When Charlemagne gave his support and patronage to Aethelred , he was honouring only one of at least four princely lines — Osred 's , Osbald 's , Aethelred 's and Eardwulf 's — and even with Frankish blessing Aethelred was unable in these circumstances to establish a long-lasting regime . |
| 11 | " We then proceeded with the examination of the boys in the presence of the Mayor and several Ladies and Gentlemen of the Town , Mr. Prescott [ sic ] the Rector of Stockport being the Examiner ; and considering the recent re-endowment and establishment of the School , and that many of the children when first admitted were unable to read , and the majority very backward in their learning , we have much pleasure in reporting that the result of this first public examination was very satisfactory and that it was apparent that the Master and Usher had faithfully discharged their duties . " |
| 12 | How often had this meant an edgy evening , when she had been unable to concentrate on what people were saying because of an ill-placed fabric rose or an over-embroidered antique shawl ? |
| 13 | At the time , most observers believed that the real reason was that the BBC had been unable to persuade the newly-elected Conservative government to contribute towards the cost of setting up ( about £3million at 1977 prices ) or running a dedicated traffic service . |
| 14 | Ferrari argued that proper procedures had not been followed in Portugal and that Mansell had been unable to hear the instructions on his radio as he travelled at 170 mph past the pits . |
| 15 | One girl said that she had been unable to breathe , and was only able to do so when she covered her face with a pillow . |
| 16 | The consortium behind the $7bn management buyout , in which BA would have a 15 per cent stake , admitted yesterday that it had been unable to complete its part of the financing . |
| 17 | Psychiatrists had been unable to find anything of significance to explain his actions . |
| 18 | The Prime Minister , after all , had been unable to change everything ‘ totally and utterly ’ . |
| 19 | The Royal Air Force Memorial Fund ( later to become the RAF Benevolent Fund ) had originally hoped to erect a memorial on ground between Westminster Abbey and St Margaret 's Church , but they had been unable to get permission . |
| 20 | The police station was not yet half a dozen years old , but ever since its completion the powers that be , like fussy housewives , had been unable to let well alone , adding innovation after innovation , perpetually trying to improve their handiwork . |
| 21 | This was advice which he had been unable to fallow himself . |
| 22 | Foreign diplomats said the lack of a further reshuffle after a meeting of the central advisory commission meant Deng had been unable to persuade other party elders to retire to smooth the transfer of power to his heir . |
| 23 | He said that he had been given no information about the departure and even late yesterday , had been unable to reach government officials responsible for refugee matters . |
| 24 | Of the 383 state production plans , 148 had been unable to meet their target — more than double the previous figure of 65 . |
| 25 | Britain had been unable to protect Czechoslovakia or Poland in 1938–39 , and every month before a possible invasion meant more aircraft , guns and ships . |
| 26 | In spite of the best efforts of the health service , we had been unable to persuade the public that by far the bigger danger was of children not being inoculated . |
| 27 | Though the campaign scarcely gripped the imagination as the victories in the west had done — some reports hinted that the significance of the campaign had not been properly grasped , and that the victories had been unable to affect the popular mood for more than a very short time — it seemed to provide yet another example of Hitler 's strategic genius . |
| 28 | Her eyes leapt from Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob to Verse 25 of the Gospel According to St Matthew , to which she had turned simply because it began the New Testament and she had been unable to make anything of the Old . |
| 29 | Now his hunting rifle had lost a piece from its firing mechanism and he had been unable to replace it . |
| 30 | Mackie at that time had been unable to conceive and was troubled and unhappy because of it . |