Tense in "I was just getting dinner ready."
Context: Two women were talking, one of them wanted to end the conversation, and she said:" Listen, I was just getting dinner ready."

Why does she use the past continuous tense? Does it mean that she has almost cooked dinner, so that she gotta leave and get dinner served?

Thank you very much in advance!

Question

Tense in "I was just getting dinner ready."
Context: Two women were talking, one of them wanted to end the conversation, and she said:" Listen, I was just getting dinner ready."

Why does she use the past continuous tense? Does it mean that she has almost cooked dinner, so that she gotta leave and get dinner served?

Thank you very much in advance!

Answer

The connotation is "Listen, I was just getting diner ready (when you came/called and we started talking, so I'll have to get back to it now)".  This clearly states the situation, whereas "Listen, I am just getting diner ready" would be not as clear to the listener -  like "Is she starting to cook now?".

Answer

Yes, you are correct. She was getting dinner ready and the conversation interrupted it. She either wants to continue preparing dinner, or she wants to serve the dinner.

Answers · 2

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