please explain...

[mamen]

1. Is it correct to say "I'm just kidding you" though the action was done already? Why?
2. Is it more correct to say "I just kidded you" if the action was done already? Why?
3. Why do people say "I'm just kidding you" though the action was done already and not in progress?

I think, like the word 'eat', we do use 'eating' when the action is in progress; we do use 'ate' when the action was already done.So please explain 'kidding'.

Thank you!!! Please explain!!!

[bhaisahab]

If we are referring to the past 'I was just kidding' is the correct way to say it. In the same way we can say 'I was eating'.

[mamen]

If we are referring to the past 'I was just kidding' is the correct way to say it. In the same way we can say 'I was eating'.

Is it also correct to say:
1. I kidded her.
2. I just kidded her.
3. I've just kidded her.

Thank you!!!

[abaka]

This is just idiom, but perhaps it can be explained as follows.

"To kid" someone is really a process; the result is laughter or anger, etc.

So "I was just kidding you" is used, since that puts the focus on the interval during which I was carrying on.

"I kid you not" is an idiom. Learn it and use it. But it is always in the present tense (perhaps because of the otherwise archaic postposition of "not" somehow -- somehow -- excludes the past). "I kid you" could be present or past: ambiguous, isn't it? It's not used: use "I'm kidding".

This is unsatisfactory, I know, and probably not quite correct, but it's a start.

[mamen]

This is just idiom, but perhaps it can be explained as follows.

"To kid" someone is really a process; the result is laughter or anger, etc.

So "I was just kidding you" is used, since that puts the focus on the interval during which I was carrying on.

"I kid you not" is an idiom. Learn it and use it. But it is always in the present tense (perhaps because of the otherwise archaic postposition of "not" somehow -- somehow -- excludes the past). "I kid you" could be present or past: ambiguous, isn't it? It's not used: use "I'm kidding".

This is unsatisfactory, I know, and probably not quite correct, but it's a start.

Could someone still explain to me why I must not use "I kidded you".

And,why is that "I kid you" may imply present or past.

when could I use "I'm kidding".