In the English language, you may encounter words that sometimes overlap in meaning and are frequently interchanged even by native speakers and writers. This is the case with the words continual and continuous. Both terms originate from the word continue and are very closely related when it comes to meaning and use. This post will discuss the differences between the two so you may avoid confusion with using these words in the future.
The term continual is used as an adjective meaning “recurring in steady usually rapid succession,” “frequently recurring,” or “always happening.” The action does not occur ceaselessly but there is a regularity to it.
Cable Management System: Continual Infrastructure Investments Escalate Growth
Edition TruthConquering Embarrassment is a Continual Process
Migraine.comFarmers fed up with continual power cuts
Stuff.co.nz
On the other hand, the word continuous is used as an adjective meaning “marked by uninterrupted extension in space, time, or sequence” or “forming an unbroken whole; without interruption.” This is usually used to refer to actions like the beating of a person’s heart, the movement of planets in the solar system, and the flow of water in a river.
Continuous trauma: Khadija forced to take exam alongside attacker
Geo News PakistanGrattan on Friday: Budget-making is undermined by the continuous election campaign
The Conversation AUVeeam aims for continuous availability with Availability Suite v10
Network World
The confusion also extends to the words’ adverb forms continually and continuously, which are often mixed up by writers. The adverb continually means “repeated frequently in the same way.”
Irish language sector needs to ‘reinvent itself’, says academic
Irish Times
Meanwhile, continuously as an adverb means “repeatedly without exceptions or reversals” or “without interruption or gaps.”
Indian chef creates world record, cooks continuously for 53 hours
Hindustan Times
Now that you have learned the differences between continual and continuous, it would be easier for you to determine which term to use in your sentence. Hopefully, this post helped you distinguish between these words and avoid further confusion in the future.
