translate
verb (used with object)
to turn from one language into another or from a foreign language into one's own.
had been translating
-
past perfect progressiveof translate.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.
When I left the medical center, the Wicks had been translating pre-op instructions for the German sailor and were trying to locate a mandarin speaker for a Chinese crewman in the intensive care unit.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2016
He had been translating for the military for three years.
From US News ● Jul. 7, 2016
Our guest, just days before the war, was a young man who had been translating the Iraqi press so that we could understand what the government was telling its people.
From Time Magazine Archive
He sat by the bed with the book of the Gospels in his hands—a Latin version, of course—from which he had been translating a passage to the invalid.
From The White Lady of Hazelwood A Tale of the Fourteenth Century by W. (William) Rainey
"Yes," echoed Ragnall, "we must certainly go," while even Savage, for I had been translating to them all this while, nodded his head although he looked as though he would much rather stay behind.
From The Ivory Child by Henry Rider Haggard
