Continual, continuous 不断的，持续的
"I'm confused about the difference between 'continual' and 'continuous'. Could you please explain these two words for me? Thanks a lot! "
J. K. Tsui
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Both continual and continuous can mean roughly 连续的。
For example: a long and continual war; five years of continuous warfare. But continuous has a sense of being unbroken and non-stop.
Unlike continual, continuous can be used to refer to 空间和时间。For example you can say the development forms a continuous line along the coast.
Continual, 一般用来形容频繁发生但是有间隔的那种持续。For example, the bus service has been disrupted by continual breakdowns.
总之，continuous 比 continual 的使用更为普遍一些，比如在牛津字词库里 continuous 就比 continual 的出现频率高出五倍。
本周《你问我答》杨莉有很多例句同大家分享。
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