To express to keep on/continue doing something in Spanish we use one of these two verbal structures:
Seguir
For example:
Sigue caminando un poco más y verás una farmacia.
Keep on walking a bit longer and you will see a chemist.
Luís siguió insistiendo para convencer a la chica.
Luís kept on insisting to convince the girl.
Continuar
For example:
Continúa caminando un poco más y verás una farmacia.
Keep on walking a bit longer and you will see a chemist.
Luís continuó insistiendo para convencer a la chica.
Luís kept on insisting to convince the girl.
Notice how both seguir and continuar are followed by a gerund, which coincides with the English structure.
However special attention must be paid to verb seguir which is a stem changing verb (e>i) as well as a consonant change verb (gu>g). See:
- Conjugate stem-changing (e > i) verbs: seguir, conseguir, perseguir in El Presente (present tense)
- Verbos con cambio ortográfico gu > g (El Presente)
Also remember the absence of preposition between seguir/continuar and the gerund form, as this is a common mistake.
Here are some other examples:
Mi padre sigue fumando a pesar de las advertencias del médico.
My dad keeps on smoking despite the doctor's warnings.
Ellos siguieron bebiendo hasta el amanecer.
They kept on drinking until dawn.
Los voluntarios han continuado recaudando dinero para los niños pobres.
The volunteers have continued collecting money for poor children.
El bailarín continuó bailando después de su descalificación.
The dancer continued dancing after his disqualification.
Take one of the examples above:
It is incorrect to use a preposition between the two verb forms or use the infinitive:
Ellos siguieron a bebiendo hasta el amanecer.
Ellos siguieron a beber hasta el amanecer.
Ellos continuaron a bebiendo hasta el amanecer.
Ellos continuaron a beber hasta el amanecer.
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Los voluntarios han continuado recaudando dinero para los niños pobres.
The volunteers have continued collecting money for poor children.
Luís siguió insistiendo para convencer a la chica.
Luís kept on insisting to convince the girl.
Ellos siguieron bebiendo hasta el amanecer.
They kept on drinking until dawn.
Sigue caminando un poco más y verás una farmacia.
Keep on walking a bit longer and you will see a chemist.
Mi padre sigue fumando a pesar de las advertencias del médico.
My dad keeps on smoking despite the doctor's warnings.
Luís continuó insistiendo para convencer a la chica.
Luís kept on insisting to convince the girl.
El bailarín continuó bailando después de su descalificación.
The dancer continued dancing after his disqualification.
Continúa caminando un poco más y verás una farmacia.
Keep on walking a bit longer and you will see a chemist.
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