Continual, continuous 不斷的，持續(xù)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 連續(xù)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 空間和時(shí)間。For example you can say the development forms a continuous line along the coast.
Continual, 一般用來形容頻繁發(fā)生但是有間隔的那種持續(xù)。For example, the bus service has been disrupted by continual breakdowns.
總之，continuous 比 continual 的使用更為普遍一些，比如在牛津字詞庫里 continuous 就比 continual 的出現(xiàn)頻率高出五倍。
本周《你問我答》楊莉有很多例句同大家分享。
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