Tip 698: "Continuously" or "Continually"?

From the Writing Workshops: “Continuously or “Continually”?” 

Our tip about “based on” or “based off” (or “based off of”) raised another question: 

What’s the difference between continuously and continually? Or their cousins continuous and continual? 

They’re close . . . but they’re different. 

They’re close because they both describe ongoing action. The ringing of an alarm clock. The ticking of a wall clock. 

They’re different because continuously describes an action that doesn’t stop. Like the Energizer Bunny. It keeps going and going and going . . . . 

Think of the continuous ringing of the alarm clock. It doesn’t stop until you reach over and slam it into the nightstand. Bam! Only then can you go back to sleep. “That stupid alarm clock rang continuously. It wouldn’t let me sleep.”   

Continually takes breaks. Probably regular breaks, but breaks. Think of the ticking of the wall clock. Tick . . . (probably a one-second break) . . . tick . . . (probably a one-second break) . . . tick . . . . 

So how can we remember the difference? Think of driving through your neighborhood. Think of turning left on the cross street. There’s the alley (okay, okay, slightly different spelling) through the middle of the block, dividing the backyards. Then your neighbor’s street. Then another alley. The alleys break up the blocks.   

Both words share the same Latin root, continuare, meaning “to join together or connect.” Think of continent or continuum. Stuff (land or events or whatever) joined together. 

But the endings of the words are different, and that makes the difference.

So . . . what are your questions? 

We love this stuff. This is fun.