Korean Job Discussion Forums

[animalbirdfish]

Had a Korean colleague ask me which of the following is correct and why:

Thank you for your continued support.

Thank you for your continuing support.

As often happens, I found myself stumped. So, I suggested that he use "Thanks for your ongoing support." But that didn't satisfy this guy. He really wants to know and said he couldn't find the answer.

Anyone?

[ajuma]

According to m-w.com:

Main Entry: con�tin�ue
Pronunciation: k&n-'tin-(")y�
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -tin�ued; -tinu�ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French continuer, from Latin continuare, from continuus
intransitive verb
1 : to maintain without interruption a condition, course, or action



Main Entry: continued
Function: adjective
1 : lasting or extending without interruption

Looks like they mean the same thing to me!! Just one of those inexplicable English things!!

[Juregen]

[ajuma]

[Novernae]

[Juregen]

[Woland]

This is a difference in what linguists call 'aspect', a verbal category (and here, the modifiers 'continued' and 'continuing' are deverbal) that presents a speaker's perspective on an event. In many cases, use of aspect in English is a matter of choice - more than one aspectual possibility can be grammatically correct. The different choices give slightly different 'feels' to the meaning of the utterance.

So, in this case, both forms are grammatically correct, but each has a slightly different meaning, a different feel. The progressive form (-ing) focuses attention on the duration of support over time, it's ongoing nature, and perhaps, its continuation into the future. The perfect form (-ed) focuses attention on the fact that support has continued up to the present moment. It says nothing about the future, but does not preclude continuation of the action. (For example, the following sentence contains perfect aspect on the verb but does not suggest that I have moved from Seoul: I have lived in Seoul for five months).

If we believe that linguistic structure influences thought, then I'd go with the progressive, which focuses on duration and contains some implication for the future. If you want to avoid this concern altogether, use 'continuous'.

Bonus rant: We waste a lot of time teaching rules for the so-called 'tenses' of English, when in fact, these forms almost all involve choices of aspect in addition to time reference. The fact that aspect is largely a matter of choice means that it cannot be easily reduced to rules. For example, Dave Willis has suggested that the difference between past simple and present perfect (both of which refer to past time, but differ in aspect) is so subtle and so complex as to be unteachable. He recommends instead exposure to a lot of language and discussion of alternatives as a way to help students get the feel for the choice. The tests that insist on one clear choice in aspect for a correct answer are usually highly artificial. But those tests exist, and so we waste our and our students' time on so called rules. And then people complain that learners can't speak/don't know English.

[Juregen]

This is gold

[semphoon]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Maybe I'm off base on this, but aren't 'continued' and 'continuing' in the same category as 'interested' and 'interesting'?

I was interested in that movie./That movie was interesting.

In both cases I enjoyed the movie and although the movie is over, my interest in it didn't stop.

I agree with ajumma (again!). If I received a letter saying 'Thank you for your continued support', I would not conclude that my support has stopped.

[ajuma]

[animalbirdfish]

Wow, folks. Thanks for all the thoughtful responses.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Ms ajuma,

I would be happy to continue supporting you; to have continued supporting you; lend you continuing support...

But I would never ever, under any circumstances, consider continuTed supporting you. I respect you too much for THAT.




(But if you are into Konglish, we could be 'intimate friends'.)

[ajuma]

[out of context]

For what it's worth, I think the first one sounds a little bit more polite. "Thank you for your continued support" suggests that the speaker appreciates what has been done from the past to the present, while "Thank you for your continuing support" seems to carry the implication that the speaker expects the support to continue into the future. If you don't expect that the addressee would find the second one presumptuous, then I would say there's little difference.