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SPANISH VERB

continuar

to continue

  • #93 most used
  • Irregular -ar verb
  • Gerund: continuando
  • Past participle: continuado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I continue
  2. tú you continue
  3. usted, él, ella he/she continues
  4. nosotros we continue
  5. vosotros Spain you all continue
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they continue

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I continued
  2. tú you continued
  3. usted, él, ella he/she continued
  4. nosotros we continued
  5. vosotros Spain you all continued
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they continued

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to continue
  2. tú you used to continue
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to continue
  4. nosotros we used to continue
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to continue
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to continue

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will continue
  2. tú you will continue
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will continue
  4. nosotros we will continue
  5. vosotros Spain you all will continue
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will continue

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would continue
  2. tú you would continue
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would continue
  4. nosotros we would continue
  5. vosotros Spain you all would continue
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would continue

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I continue
  2. tú (that) you continue
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she continue
  4. nosotros (that) we continue
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all continue
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they continue

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I continued
  2. tú (if) you continued
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she continued
  4. nosotros (if) we continued
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all continued
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they continued

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú continue!
  2. usted continue! (formal)
  3. nosotros continue! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain continue! (all of you)
  5. ustedes continue! (all of you)

How to use continuar

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    La fiesta continúa hasta la madrugada.

    The party goes on until dawn.

  2. Past

    Después del descanso, continuamos la caminata hasta la cima.

    After the break, we continued the hike to the top.

  3. Imperfect

    El ruido continuaba a pesar de las quejas de los vecinos.

    The noise continued despite the neighbors' complaints.

  4. Future

    Las obras continuarán durante todo el verano.

    The construction work will continue all summer.

  5. Conditional

    Yo continuaría con las clases, vas muy bien.

    I'd continue with the classes, you're doing very well.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Ojalá continúes practicando español cuando vuelvas a casa.

    I hope you keep practicing Spanish when you go back home.

  7. Past subjunctive

    El entrenador nos pidió que continuáramos sin él.

    The coach asked us to continue without him.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Continúa derecho y verás la plaza a la izquierda!

    Keep going straight and you'll see the square on the left!

Good to know

  • "Continuar" plus the gerund is to keep doing something: "continúa lloviendo". "Seguir" is the more everyday word.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ar verb.