Continual and continuous

Question

could anybody tell me how to differentiate them.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

See this: http://bartleby.com/61/22/C0602200.html

These adjectives mean occurring repeatedly over a long period of time. 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. Constant stresses steadiness or persistence and unvarying nature: The constant ticking of the clock lulled him to sleep.

You can read about ceaseless, incessant, perpetual, and a few others there too!

CalifJim · Answer

intermittent, repeated, time: "continual"

the continual banging of the shutters
the continual barking of dogs
the continual rains in the Amazon
the continual flow of traffic
the continual complaints of the employees
the continual questions of young children

unbroken, uninterrupted, time: "continuous", less often "continual"

a continuous vigil
a continuous growth of cells
continuous monitoring of the patient
the continuous motion of the planets
the continuous groan of the injured

unbroken, uninterrupted, space: "continuous", not "continual"

a continuous line of people
a continuous stream of water
the continuous silken thread of a spider
the continuous slope of a hill

CJ

Continual and continuous

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