It is a statement saying that somebody has been thinking of getting in contact with you usually through text but haven't yet. Answer from rogerap1979 on hinative.com
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engVid
engvid.com › how-to-write-informal-emails-in-english
How to write informal emails in English · engVid
Hey Alex, How are you? I’ve been meaning to write to you for a long time to thank you and Engvid staff to continue keeping the website update with excellent lessons like this one.
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British Council
learnenglish.britishcouncil.org › skills › writing › b2-writing › informal-email-friend
An informal email to a friend | LearnEnglish
February 12, 2019 - Sorry I haven't been in touch for such a long time but I've had exams so I've been studying every free minute. Anyway, I'd love to hear all your news and I'm hoping we can get together soon to catch up. We just moved to a bigger flat so maybe you can come and visit one weekend? ... Looking forward to hearing from you! ... I've been meaning to write to you for ages now so don't worry!
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Blair English
blairenglish.com › exercises › emails › exercises › how-to-write-email-friend-long-time › how-to-write-email-friend-long-time.html
How to write an email to a friend you haven't contacted in a long time exercise | Blair English
Then do the quiz at the end to check if you are right. ... How are you? It's been ages since we last spoke. I hope everything is going well. Sorry, I haven't been in contact recently. I've been meaning to write to you for the last couple of months, but I just haven't got round to doing it.
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English Harmony
englishharmony.com › ive-been-meaning-to-never-get-around-to
English Idiomatic Expressions: “I’ve Been Meaning to… Never Get Around to…” | English Harmony
But you may as well use one or the other. For instance someone gets in touch with you and then you tell that person “I’m sorry that I never called you. I’ve been meaning to do it for a long time and I’m really sorry, I totally forgot about it. It slipped my mind.” Or you can just say things like “I’ve been meaning to do my homework or my essay or something for a couple of weeks now and now finally today is the last day.
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Vocal Media
vocal.media › families › i-ve-been-meaning-to-write
I've Been Meaning To Write... | Families
Even that simple sentence isn’t simple. I’ve been meaning to write anything. You understand what it's like when you're not writing. You were a poet, a wordsmith. Sure, you were humble about your writing, and I am sure that you would demure if I said as much, but even your jokey way of telling a story or proposing an outrageous deal was an art form.
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WordReference
forum.wordreference.com › english only › english only
I've been meaning to... | WordReference Forums
August 28, 2005 - The usage implies that you have had the intention to call for a period of time, but were unable to do so (for whatever reason.) I bump into someone I was supposed to call last night but didn't. Hi, Joe.
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University of Alberta
ualberta.ca › en › youalberta › 2022 › 01 › words-i-have-been-meaning-to-say.html
Words I Have Been Meaning to Say | YouAlberta
January 4, 2022 - I’ve been thinking about you quite a bit lately, so I just wanted to write to you, and let you know that I love you because we all need that reminder sometimes.
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Blogger
englishonlineedu.blogspot.com
ENGLISH ONLINE!
Sorry I haven’t been in touch for such a long time but I’ve had exams so I’ve been studying every free minute. Anyway, I’d love to hear all your news and I’m hoping we can get together soon to catch up. We just moved to a bigger flat so maybe you can come and visit one weekend? How’s the new job? Looking forward to hearing from you! Helga __________________________________________________________________________________ Hi Helga, I’ve been meaning to write to you for ages now so don’t worry!
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British Council
learnenglish.britishcouncil.org › sites › podcasts › files › LearnEnglish-Reading-B2-An-email-from-a-friend.pdf pdf
© 2019 British Council www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish Reading: B2
time for a while. We figure the first step in that direction is getting married, which is also why I · wanted to write – I can’t get married without my oldest friend there! The wedding’s going to · be at home in London in September and I hope you can come!
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Ludwig
ludwig.guru › s › I+have+meant+to+write
I have meant to write | Meaning, Grammar Guide & Usage ...
The part of the sentence "I have ... intention or purpose to write or to do something. For example: "I have meant to write you a letter for a long time, but it's only now that I finally got around to it."...
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Quora
quora.com › Why-do-people-say-Ive-been-meaning-to-tell-you
Why do people say 'I've been meaning to tell you'? - Quora
Answer (1 of 10): It means that I have been trying to tell you and always wanted to tell you since long before, because in here, the phrase have been, is the present perfect, it refers to the influence of things that happened in the past lasts ...
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Brainly
brainly.com › english › college
Hi Jane! I've been meaning to write for ages and finally today I'm actually doing something about it. Not - brainly.com
Looking forward to seeing you in September! ... 1. The author's purpose was to tell "Jane" about where she's traveled to since they last spoke. She states that " it's been really hard to sit down and write, as I've been moving around so much.
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Ruangguru
roboguru.ruangguru.com › home › hi helga, i've been meaning to write to you for...
Hi Helga, I've been meaning to write to you for...
March 16, 2018 - Hi Helga, I've been meaning to write to you for ages now so don't worry! How did your exams go? When will you know your results? I'm sure you did brilliantly as always. As for me, I'll have been...
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10

You want to say that in the past you formed an intention to call Jane, and that intention has persisted into the present because it has never been fulfilled. Look at your options for expressing this:

SIMPLE FORMS

I mean to call Jane.
This form describes your present intention. It says nothing about the past.

I meant to call Jane.
This form describes a completed past intention—the technical term is perfective, which is quite different from "perfect" constructions. It implies that the intention was either fulfilled or dropped. It says nothing about the present.

PROGRESSIVE FORMS

I am meaning to call Jane.
I was meaning to call Jane.
These forms are prohibited in ordinary use, because mean to is a stative verb like know, have, live, and these verbs have the progressive sense "built in". The prohibition is weaker in the past form, which may be employed to specifically exclude the perfective sense: I was meaning to call Jane, but kept forgetting. You'll occasionally find this in colloquial use instead of the perfect progressive: I was meaning to call you.

PERFECT FORMS

I have meant to call Jane.
I had meant to call Jane.
These forms describe an intention held before a present (have) or past (had) Reference Time (RT) which led to some sort of a state which obtains at RT. With mean to it is ordinarily used to cast light on a current situation by pointing to past intention, so it tends to be restricted to formal "forensic" discourse: I have meant to assail the motives of no party, or individual; and if I have, in any instance (of which I am not conscious), departed from my purpose, I regret it. — A. Lincoln.  You could use this in the present context, but the intention would be seen retrospectively, and the second clause should be recast to suit it: "I have meant to call Jane, but have repeatedly forgotten to." It would neither imply nor exclude the persistence of your intention into the present.

PERFECT PROGRESSIVE FORMS

I have been meaning to call Jane.
I had been meaning to call Jane.
These are the forms ordinarily employed in both formal and informal registers to express an intention formed before the (present or past) RT and persisting into RT. The perfect piece of the construction (have/had) expresses the existence of the intention before RT, and the progressive piece (BE -ing) expresses persistence, excluding perfectivity.

Incidentally, mean to (as opposed to bare mean) is one of a class of verbs which act as semi-auxiliaries—the to means that they take a to-infinitive.

get to
happen to
have to
seem to
tend to
turn out to
used to
be about to
be going to
be likely to
be supposed to

Each of these follows its own set of 'rules', depending on its semantic character.

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1

First, you are correct; in this context, 'meaning' means 'intending'.

As for the tense, we use that tense when we have been wanting to phone Jane for some time now (that's important – I've been meaning to do something implies my intent has persisted for some length of time). Furthermore, it also implies that I still haven't called her. (If I had phoned Jane already, then the verb tenses would change: I had been meaning to phone Jane, but I kept forgetting. That implies that I eventually overcame my forgetfulness and made the phone call.)

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StudyPool
studypool.com › documents › 28637363 › learnenglish-reading-b2-an-email-from-a-friend
Studypool Homework Help - Learnenglish reading b2 an email from a friend
Preparation task Match the definitions (a–h) with the vocabulary (1–8). Vocabulary Definitions 1. …… to oversee 2. …… to be posted 3. …… kind of 4. …… a whirlwind 5. …… to figure 6. …… to be off to 7. …… days on end 8. …… every other a. something that is fast, exciting and unpredictable b. several days continuously c. to regularly check the progress of a project d. in some way, sort of e. to be sent to a place for a job f. one out of every two g. to move or travel to a different place, often quickly h. to think, to suppose Reading text: An email from a friend Hi! I’ve been meaning to write for ages and finally today I’m actually doing something about it.