What is the difference between "Seguir" and "Continuar" are they interchangable?

Question

Thank you !

Welcome to the SD forum. - katydew, Mar 9, 2015

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Mar 9, 2015

Answer 1

To my knowledge, with a gerund they are similar:

http://spanish.about.com/od/verbs/a/verb_gerund.htm

Seguir or continuar + gerund: These verbs typically mean "to keep on" or "to continue." With this usage, the two verbs are generally interchangeable with little difference in meaning.

• Sony sigue hablando mal del plasma, mientras sigue lanzando televisores LCD.Sony keeps on speaking poorly of plasma while it keeps on releasing LCD televisions. • Venezuela continuará comprando cemento cubano. Venezuela will keep on buyingCuban cement. • Muchas veces seguimos durmiendo más de lo que deberíamos. Many times wecontinue sleeping longer than we should.

But Seguir carries additional meanings, mostly in the senses of follow (number 2 is the one that matches continuar):

http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/seguir

1. (to move behind) a. to follow Sígueme y te enseño el camino a casa. Follow me and I will show you the way home.

2. (to resume) a. to continue Puedes parar ahora y seguir más tarde.You can stop now and continue later.

3. (to understand) a. to follow No sigo tu lógica.I don't follow your logic.

4. (to comply) a. to follow Debes seguir las reglas y no romperlas.You are supposed to follow the rules and not break them.

5. (to study) a. to take Sigue algunas clases en línea.She is taking some classes online.

That continuar does not:

http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/continuar

TRANSITIVE VERB 1. to continue, to carry on with • los peregrinos continuaron su camino the pilgrims went o continued on their way

INTRANSITIVE VERB 2. to continue, to go on • continuar haciendo algo to continue doing o to do something • continúa lloviendo it's still raining • todavía continúa en la empresa she's still with o working for the company • continuará to be continued (historia, programa)

Answer 2

Seguir can be 'to continue' but often is 'to follow' and used in many other ways as well and in combination with other verbs.

Continuar means to continue or to carry on.

Jaygr, one little trick I've found that helps understand words visually is to type your word into your search engine and click images. You often can see the multiple meanings and more common meanings of words in pictures. Type in both of your verbs one at a time and see what pops up. Then click on the description to get an idea how it is used in a Spanish sentence or phrase.

Answer 3

I've also learned it to mean to continue as in "Continue straight ahead for two blocks."