begin
verb (used without object)
to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of some action; commence; start.
had been beginning
-
past perfect progressiveof begin.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The count of what is known as "excess deaths" had been beginning to rise before 2020 and there are other factors at play too, such as an ageing population.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2022
She had been beginning to feel the reaction.
From A Daughter of the Sioux A Tale of the Indian frontier by Edwin Willard Deming
An inarticulate protest from Mr. Wain, rendered speechless by this move just as he had been beginning to recover his faculties, and he was running across the lawn into the shrubbery.
From Mike by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
Now when they saw the fires on the shore where French Village had been beginning to die down they were stumbling painfully and crazily down to the water.
From The Shepherd of the North by Richard Aumerle Maher
Besides, I had been beginning to find such big dolls rather inconvenient, as I did not care to play with them in the common way merely.
From A Christmas Posy by Walter Crane
