Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

I have been baffled by the usage of 'continuous', 'continual', and 'continued'. How do I tell each from the others? Could you please give me some examples?

If I want to express 'ongoing support', which the above word should I use?

Thank you very much for your help!

Lelise
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Less Is Blessed

[Mister Micawber]

.
Is your name Leslie or Lelise?-- you seem to type it both ways.

Continued support = ongoing support.


From some online dictionaries:

Continual is chiefly restricted to what is intermittent or repeated at intervals: The continual banging of the shutter in the wind gave me a headache. Continuous implies lack of interruption: The horizon is a continuous line.

CONTINUAL often implies a close prolonged succession or recurrence <continual showers the whole weekend>. CONTINUOUS usually implies an uninterrupted flow or spatial extension <football's oldest continuous rivalry>.

Continual (meaning seemingly uninterrupted) is often used interchangeably with continuous (meaning without interruption).
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[leslie]

Oops! I must have typed my name too fast! It's Leslie.

Thank you for your thorough reply. I get a better understanding now. Thank you very very much.

Leslie
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Less Is Blessed