Language Arts This article reviews the differences between the words "continuous" and "continual." Get some pointers on how to remember when to use "continuous" vs "continual" using mnemonics.

Not only is the difference in meaning between continuous and continual fairly subtle, but the similarity for most of the spelling and pronunciation and the fact that they share a synonym that can be used with either meaning add to the complexity of the situation. Let's take a shot at sorting this all out.

Continuous

Continuous comes from the Latin continuus, meaning “continuous,” which is a form of continere, meaning “to hold together.” It is pronounced /kuhn TIHN yoo uhs/. Continuous is an adjective that can have three different meanings: “moving through time, sequence, or substance without interruption,” “attached in repeating units,” or - in the field of mathematics - “relating to a line or curve that extends uniformly and without break.” Here are example sentences:

Australia's Highway 1 forms a continuous route that circumnavigates the entire continent.

The wind chimes on my porch provide continuous music on blustery days.

Continuous feed paper is a necessity for many offices.

A line is, by definition, infinitely long and continuous.

Continual

Continual comes through Middle English from Anglo-French continuel, which in turn comes from the Latin continuus, just like continuous. Continual may be pronounced in two ways: /kuhn TIHN yoo uhl/ or /kuhn TIHN yuhl/. Notice that in the second case, the last two syllables are elided, making the whole word have three syllables and end with a schwa sound.

Continual is an adjective that can mean “recurring with regularity or frequency” or “steady.” Here are example sentences:

We carry on a continual review of our products for possible improvements and upgrades.

This is how one might refer to a monthly review process. If the sentence said continuous in reference to a monthly review, it could be seen as an exaggeration or misleading statement.

On the hot summer day, my Golden retriever's panting was continual.

Note that because there were times that the dog did not pant, continuous would not be the best choice.

The manager faced a continual stream of interruptions as he worked, as people stopped by to congratulate her on her promotion.

Likewise, because there were moments that the manager was actually alone in her office, continuous would not be the best choice here, either.

Contrast these sentences with the following:

There is a continuous flow of water from the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico.

This is not an on-again off-again process. It is uninterrupted, and therefore legitimately referred to as continuous.

Constant

The word constant is one of the elements that creates a problem in distinguishing continuous and continual. This is because constant can be used as a synonym for either. That is, it can mean either “recurring regularly” (the equivalent of continual) or “unchanging or invariable,” synonymous with continuous. So in this instance, trying to match up the two words with synonyms to help clarify their meaning is not helpful. Read the next section for ideas about how to differentiate the words.

Differentiating Continuous and Continual

One mnemonic to help you recall the difference between continuous and continual is to align them with public and commercial television broadcasting, like this:

Commercial broadcasting has continual commercial breaks.

Public broadcasting offers continuous showing without such breaks.

Note that continual and commercial both end in l. Note also that continuous has an o in its suffix to go with the o in the root of showing. This may also resonate for you with your local public broadcasting advertising because “continuous programming” is a key feature of the system's publicity.

Another mnemonic focuses on the suffixes, -ous and ­-al. Here's the setup (a bit complicated to explain, but once you have the idea, it's simpler). For -ous, think of the homophone us; for -al, think of the homophone Al. Us will refer to you and your family, spouse, partner, or pet - you and someone or something that is a continuous. Al is another person you know who lives far away or only emails or calls once a month, etc., so your communication with Al is continual, but not continuous. You can elaborate the story any way you like to help your memory, but the key point is the contrast between the interaction within the group of whomever you choose to refer to as us and the intermittent interaction between us and whomever you call Al.