Meaning & use
continuous
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Going on without any stop or gap, so that nothing interrupts it from beginning to end.
Grammar: Usually placed before a noun: a continuous noise, not a noise that is more continuous.
Patterns
- continuous noise/flow/line
- continuous for a period
A continuous hum from the refrigerator kept her awake all night.
The river forms a continuous line of blue across the map.
He has been in continuous employment since he left school.
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
In grammar, describing a verb form that shows an action in progress, built with be and an -ing form.
Grammar: Used in grammar terms: the present continuous tense, which is the same as the progressive.
Patterns
- continuous tense
- present/past continuous
In the sentence I am reading, the verb is in the present continuous.
Many learners overuse the continuous form with verbs like know and want.
Her teacher drew a timeline to explain the past continuous.
Common combinations
- continuous improvement
- The factory is committed to continuous improvement of its safety record.
- continuous rain
- Continuous rain for three days flooded the lower fields.
- continuous supply
- The hospital needs a continuous supply of clean water.
- continuous process
- Learning a language is a continuous process, not a single event.
- continuous line
- The artist drew the whole portrait in one continuous line.
Synonyms and how they differ
- uninterrupted
- Uninterrupted stresses that nothing broke in, so it fits sleep, views or concentration better than continuous does.
- constant
- Constant suggests something that stays the same or keeps recurring, and it is often used for complaints or levels, while continuous is about having no gaps.
- unbroken
- Unbroken is a little more literary and often describes a sequence or surface, such as an unbroken record or an unbroken line of hills.
- ceaseless
- Ceaseless is stronger and more dramatic, often hinting at weariness, as in ceaseless chatter.
Opposites
Word family
- continuously adverb
- without stopping
- continuity noun
- the state of continuing without a break
- continue verb
- to go on or start again after a pause
- continuation noun
- the act of carrying on, or a part that follows on
- discontinuous adjective
- having breaks or gaps
Commonly confused: continuous or continual?
continuous vs continual
Continual describes something that happens again and again with pauses, such as continual interruptions, whereas continuous has no pause at all.
Practice
The phone rang at intervals all morning, so the office suffered ___ interruptions.
Choose one answer.
The interruptions repeat with gaps between them, which is what continual means. Continuous would suggest one unbroken stream, and uninterrupted and unbroken do not fit with the word interruptions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “continuous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.