Spanish verbs continuar / seguir + gerundio)
We recently discussed how to stop doing something (dejar de + infinitivo) in Spanish, and now it's time to show the opposite: how to continue doing something.
It's easy: use the verbs continuar or seguir plus the gerund. The gerund is, of course, what corresponds to the -"ing" form in English which for -ar verbs is -ando (hablar - hablando) and for -er and -ir verbs it's -iendo (comer - comiendo / vivir - viviendo).
Here are some examples. Note that it doesn't make any difference whether you use continuar or seguir. They both mean the same thing although in my experience seguir seems to be used more often for this construction, although I imagine that could vary from country to country.
1. Pepe sigue trabajando en la misma empresa = Pepe still works (is still working) in the same company.
2. Ella siguió hablando sin hacerme caso = She kept on talking without paying any attention to me.
3. Espero que continúes mejorando tus notas = I hope you continue improving your grades.
4. El seguirá criticando al gobierno pase lo que pase = He'll keep on criticizing the government no matter what happens.
5. Como usted continúe metiendo la pata, le echarán del equipo = If you continue making mistakes, they'll kick you off the team.
6. Sigue cantando - me gusta mucho - Keep on singing - I really like it.
Brad
