Continuously vs continually - English In A Minute

Hi! I'm Roy,

and today I'm going to tell you the difference

between 'continuously' and 'continually'.

Both of these words are adverbs,

and they can be confusing.

They look similar, but they have different meanings.

'Continuously' means that something

'doesn't stop or end'.

He spoke continuously for 15 minutes.

That means he spoke for 15 minutes without stopping.

'Continually' is a 'repeated action

that happens over a period of time'

– so something starts and stops over some time.

I continually tell my dog I love her.

That means it's a repeated event. I say it many times.

Well, that's all for today,

but we here at BBC Learning English

continually make new videos so keep watching!

Bye!