[Grammar] I wasn't understanding what she was talking about

[Oddie]

Can you say
I wasn't understanding what she was talking about ?

 

[emsr2d2]

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

The use of the present continuous at the start is unnatural in BrE.

I couldn't understand what she was talking about.
I didn't understand what she was talking about.

Please note that I have changed your thread title. Titles should include some/all of the words or phrases you are asking us about.

 

[Teacher Mark]

Can you say
I wasn't understanding what she was talking about ?

It sounds unnatural because "understand" is a state verb.

State verbs should not be used in continuous tenses.

Common state verbs include: love, like, know and understand.

For more, Google "state verbs in English".

I hope that helps! :-D

 

[teechar]

I wasn't understanding what she was talking about

Don't be surprised if you do encounter this kind of structure. While the simple form is the norm, the continuous is sometimes used for various reasons, e.g., where the durational aspect is pertinent.

For instance,

[Describing an argument between a couple]
He wasn't understanding what she was saying, and she wasn't understanding what he was saying. The whole thing was a mess.

For the first few days, I wasn't understanding much of what the lecturer was saying, but then I gradually got used to the accent and could follow her explanations.

At first I was puzzled, but then I realized the reason I wasn't understanding any of the opera was that it was in Italian not French.

 

[Phaedrus]

I wasn't understanding what she was talking about

I prefer:

I wasn't following her.