Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The former presenter said producers had been inviting him to audition for America's Got Talent since 2020, but he always felt it sounded like "a massive risk" and his "gut instinct was always no".
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
In an interview last month, Luthi said he had been inviting the head of Interior to address his members “twice a year” since 2010.
From Washington Post ● May 19, 2017
Zambia had been inviting pressure onto them until that point and were unable to change the pattern of the game thereafter.
From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2015
All her life Elizabeth had been inviting this moment; and the moment, when it came, was her Day of Judgment.
From The Iron Woman by Margaret Wade Campbell Deland
He had been inviting his listeners to the friendship of Christ, and turning to my little sister and me, he said,— "And these little children, too; won't they come?"
From A New England girlhood, outlined from memory (Beverly, MA) by Lucy Larcom
