Continuar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Continuar in Spanish

Continuar means “to continue.” You will learn why stressed present forms carry an accent on ú, how the remaining tense families behave, and how to express continuing an action or situation.

Continuar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Linguistically, continuar follows the -AR ending system but has a stress and accent alternation in present forms such as continúo — “I continue,” continúa — “he / she continues,” and continúen — “that they continue.” Nosotros/nosotras continuamos — “we continue” — and vosotros/vosotras continuáis — “you all continue” — follow the regular stress pattern.

Continuar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. With haber, the participle does not agree with the subject.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	continuar	to continue
Gerund	continuando	continuing
Past participle	continuado	continued

Continuar meaning and essential uses

Continuar — “to continue” — can be transitive when the object names what is carried on: Continuamos el trabajo. — “We continue the work.”

It can also be intransitive when a situation remains in progress: La reunión continúa. — “The meeting continues.” A following gerund can identify the ongoing activity: Continúa trabajando. — “He / she continues working.”

Continuar irregular conjugation patterns

Continuar has an accent/stress alternation rather than a change in consonants or lexical stem. Stressed present forms carry written ú: continúo — “I continue,” continúas — “you continue,” continúa — “he / she continues,” and continúan — “they continue.” The present subjunctive similarly has continúe — “that I continue” — and continúen — “that they continue.” Forms such as continuamos — “we continue,” continuéis — “that you all continue,” continué — “I continued,” continuara — “that I continued,” and continuaré — “I will continue” — follow their normal stress patterns.

Continuar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Continuar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current actions, habits, and continuing situations. Stressed forms use written ú: continúo — “I continue,” continúas — “you continue,” continúa — “he / she continues,” and continúan — “they continue”; continuamos — “we continue” — and continuáis — “you all continue” — follow regular stress.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continúo	I continue
Tú — you, singular informal	continúas	you continue
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continúa	he / she continues; you continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuamos	we continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuáis	you continue (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continúan	they continue; you continue (plural)

• La clase continúa después del descanso. — The class continues after the break.

Continuar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past continuation. This system follows regular -AR endings: continué — “I continued,” continuó — “he / she continued,” and continuaron — “they continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continué	I continued
Tú — you, singular informal	continuaste	you continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continuó	he / she continued; you continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuamos	we continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuasteis	you continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continuaron	they continued; you continued (plural)

• Continué el trabajo por la tarde. — I continued the work in the afternoon.

Continuar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for past habits, background descriptions, or situations viewed as ongoing. Continuar uses the regular imperfect ending pattern in this system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continuaba	I used to continue / was continuing
Tú — you, singular informal	continuabas	you used to continue / were continuing
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continuaba	he / she used to continue / was continuing; you used to continue / were continuing (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuábamos	we used to continue / were continuing
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuabais	you used to continue / were continuing (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continuaban	they used to continue / were continuing; you used to continue / were continuing (plural)

• El ruido continuaba toda la noche. — The noise continued all night.

Continuar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with a present form of estar — “to be” — plus continuando — “continuing.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy continuando	I am continuing
Tú — you, singular informal	estás continuando	you are continuing
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está continuando	he / she is continuing; you are continuing (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos continuando	we are continuing
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis continuando	you are continuing (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están continuando	they are continuing; you are continuing (plural)

• Estamos continuando el trabajo pendiente. — We are continuing the pending work.

Continuar near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses plans or expected future events. Form it with a present form of ir — “to go” — followed by a and continuar — “to continue.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a continuar	I am going to continue
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a continuar	you are going to continue
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a continuar	he / she is going to continue; you are going to continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a continuar	we are going to continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a continuar	you are going to continue (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a continuar	they are going to continue; you are going to continue (plural)

• Voy a continuar mañana por la mañana. — I am going to continue tomorrow morning.

Continuar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where context supports it, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive continuar — “to continue.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continuaré	I will continue
Tú — you, singular informal	continuarás	you will continue
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continuará	he / she will continue; you will continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuaremos	we will continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuaréis	you will continue (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continuarán	they will continue; you will continue (plural)

• Continuarán el proyecto el próximo mes. — They will continue the project next month.

Continuar conditional conjugation

Simple conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical results, polite softening, and other conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive continuar — “to continue.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continuaría	I would continue
Tú — you, singular informal	continuarías	you would continue
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continuaría	he / she would continue; you would continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuaríamos	we would continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuaríais	you would continue (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continuarían	they would continue; you would continue (plural)

• Continuaría si tuviera más tiempo. — I would continue if I had more time.

Continuar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to the present; its regional distribution varies. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus continuado — “continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he continuado	I have continued
Tú — you, singular informal	has continuado	you have continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha continuado	he / she has continued; you have continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos continuado	we have continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis continuado	you have continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han continuado	they have continued; you have continued (plural)

• Hemos continuado con el mismo plan. — We have continued with the same plan.

Continuar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect / pluperfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus continuado — “continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había continuado	I had continued
Tú — you, singular informal	habías continuado	you had continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había continuado	he / she had continued; you had continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos continuado	we had continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais continuado	you had continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían continuado	they had continued; you had continued (plural)

• Habían continuado la reunión sin nosotros. — They had continued the meeting without us.

Continuar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for something expected to be completed by a future reference point. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus continuado — “continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré continuado	I will have continued
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás continuado	you will have continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá continuado	he / she will have continued; you will have continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos continuado	we will have continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis continuado	you will have continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán continuado	they will have continued; you will have continued (plural)

• Para entonces habremos continuado varias semanas. — By then we will have continued for several weeks.

Continuar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for hypothetical completed results or unreal past outcomes. Form it with the corresponding finite form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus continuado — “continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría continuado	I would have continued
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías continuado	you would have continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría continuado	he / she would have continued; you would have continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos continuado	we would have continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais continuado	you would have continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían continuado	they would have continued; you would have continued (plural)

• Habría continuado, pero empezó a llover. — I would have continued, but it started to rain.

Continuar subjunctive conjugations

Continuar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt, evaluation, necessity, or possibility. Stressed forms carry written ú: continúe — “that I continue” — and continúen — “that they continue,” while continuemos — “that we continue” — and continuéis — “that you all continue” — follow regular stress.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continúe	that I continue
Tú — you, singular informal	continúes	that you continue
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continúe	that he / she continue; that you continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuemos	that we continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuéis	that you continue (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continúen	that they continue; that you continue (plural)

• Es importante que continúes con el tratamiento. — It is important that you continue with the treatment.

Continuar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate clauses linked to past, hypothetical, or unreal contexts. The main table uses the accepted -ra series. The -se series is also accepted in many contexts; the second example demonstrates it without claiming that the two series are mechanically interchangeable in every construction.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continuara	that I continued
Tú — you, singular informal	continuaras	that you continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continuara	that he / she continued; that you continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuáramos	that we continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuarais	that you continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continuaran	that they continued; that you continued (plural)

• Querían que continuáramos el proyecto. — They wanted us to continue the project.
• Prefería que continuases trabajando desde casa. — She preferred that you continue working from home.

Continuar future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts and is included here as a reference system.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	continuare	if / when I should continue
Tú — you, singular informal	continuares	if / when you should continue
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	continuare	if / when he / she should continue; if / when you should continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	continuáremos	if / when we should continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuareis	if / when you should continue (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	continuaren	if / when they should continue; if / when you should continue (plural)

• Quien continuare en el cargo deberá presentar el informe. — Whoever should continue in the position must submit the report.

Continuar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with the corresponding subjunctive form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus continuado — “continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya continuado	that I have continued
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas continuado	that you have continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya continuado	that he / she has continued; that you have continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos continuado	that we have continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis continuado	that you have continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan continuado	that they have continued; that you have continued (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas continuado tus estudios. — I am glad that you have continued your studies.

Continuar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it for earlier completed situations in unreal, counterfactual, or other subjunctive contexts. The main table uses hubiera — “had” in this subjunctive construction; hubiese — “had” — is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts. Form it with the corresponding subjunctive form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus continuado — “continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera continuado	that I had continued
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras continuado	that you had continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera continuado	that he / she had continued; that you had continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos continuado	that we had continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais continuado	that you had continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran continuado	that they had continued; that you had continued (plural)

• Si hubiéramos continuado, habríamos terminado antes. — If we had continued, we would have finished earlier.
• Ojalá hubieses continuado con el curso. — I wish you had continued with the course.

Continuar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It is a reference form used mainly in formal, legal, literary, or historical contexts. Form it with the corresponding subjunctive form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus continuado — “continued.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere continuado	if / when I should have continued
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres continuado	if / when you should have continued
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere continuado	if / when he / she should have continued; if / when you should have continued (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos continuado	if / when we should have continued
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis continuado	if / when you should have continued (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren continuado	if / when they should have continued; if / when you should have continued (plural)

• Si hubieren continuado el procedimiento, deberán documentarlo. — If they should have continued the procedure, they must document it.

Continuar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. Spanish draws command forms from different morphological sources depending on person and polarity; the nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Continuar affirmative commands

Use affirmative commands to tell someone to continue. The tú form continúa — “continue” — and formal forms such as continúe — “continue” — carry written ú, while continuemos — “let’s continue” — and continuad — “continue” for plural informal address — follow their regular stress patterns.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	continúa	continue
Usted — you, singular formal	continúe	continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	continuemos	let’s continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	continuad	continue (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	continúen	continue (plural)

• Continúa con el ejercicio hasta el final. — Continue with the exercise until the end.

Continuar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms. The negative particle no — “not / do not” — precedes the command form.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no continúes	do not continue
Usted — you, singular formal	no continúe	do not continue (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no continuemos	let’s not continue
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no continuéis	do not continue (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no continúen	do not continue (plural)

• No continúes si te falta información. — Do not continue if you lack information.

Common constructions with Continuar

These target-verb patterns are useful because they show the complements or sentence frames that commonly accompany the conjugated verb.

• Continuar el trabajo. — To continue the work.
• Continuar trabajando. — To continue working.
• La reunión continúa. — The meeting continues.

Example sentences with Continuar

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already explained in the lesson.

• Continúo con el proyecto esta semana. — I continue with the project this week.
• Ayer continuamos la reunión después del descanso. — Yesterday we continued the meeting after the break.
• La lluvia continuaba por la noche. — The rain continued during the night.
• Quiero que continúes con el ejercicio. — I want you to continue with the exercise.
• Ya hemos continuado el trabajo pendiente. — We have already continued the pending work.
• Continúa hasta terminar esta parte. — Continue until you finish this part.

Regional and usage notes for Continuar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. In voseo regions, present-indicative and affirmative-command forms may differ from the core tú forms; the regional examples below do not replace the main paradigm.

• Vos continuás con el mismo plan. — You continue with the same plan. (voseo)
• Continuá con el ejercicio. — Continue with the exercise. (affirmative vos command)

With continuar, the crucial visual cue is the written accent in stressed present forms such as continúo and continúe. Other tense families use the standard -AR framework without that accent pattern.