Continuar is a regular -ar verb meaning to continue / to keep (doing) / to still be. It is one of the workhorses of everyday Brazilian Portuguese because it does the job of three English structures at once: "continue to do," "keep on doing," and "still be" (as in still sick, still working here). The conjugation holds no surprises — it is as regular as falar or morar. The real content of this page is how to attach a second verb to it, because Brazilian Portuguese gives you two competing patterns, and which one you pick is a clear marker of register and even of dialect.
continuar + gerúndio (the BR default)
In Brazil, the natural, spoken way to say "keep doing X" or "still doing X" is continuar plus the gerund (-ndo form):
Mesmo cansada, ela continua trabalhando.
Even tired, she keeps working.
A gente continua morando no mesmo apartamento.
We're still living in the same apartment.
Continua chovendo lá fora?
Is it still raining out there?
This is the construction you should reach for by default in conversation. It parallels the English progressive ("keep working," "still living") and feels completely native.
continuar a + infinitivo (more formal in BR)
The alternative attaches the second verb with the preposition a plus the infinitive. In Brazil this is perfectly grammatical and common in writing and careful speech, but it carries a slightly more formal, literary flavor; in European Portuguese it is the normal everyday form:
A empresa continua a investir em energia limpa.
The company continues to invest in clean energy.
Apesar das críticas, ele continua a defender a proposta.
Despite the criticism, he continues to defend the proposal.
Compare the registers directly: a friend says Continuo estudando pra prova (informal, gerund); a newspaper headline writes O país continua a crescer (formal, infinitive). Both are correct; the choice signals tone.
continuar as a copula: "to still be"
This is the use English speakers most often miss. Continuar can take an adjective or noun directly, with no second verb, meaning "to still be / to remain (in some state)." Here it behaves like a copula, similar to ficar or estar:
Depois de uma semana, ele continua doente.
After a week, he's still sick.
O restaurante continua aberto até meia-noite.
The restaurant is still open until midnight.
As coisas continuam difíceis por aqui.
Things are still tough around here.
The logic is "the state continues," so the adjective agrees with the subject (continua doente, continuam difíceis). English uses the adverb "still" plus "be"; Portuguese folds both into continuar.
Presente do indicativo
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continuo |
| tu | continuas |
| você / ele / ela | continua |
| nós | continuamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuam |
The stem ends in -u, but there is no accent and no vowel shift — continuar is fully regular (unlike construir, whose u does shift). The u simply glides: con-ti-nu-o, con-ti-nu-a.
Pretérito perfeito
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continuei |
| tu | continuaste |
| você / ele / ela | continuou |
| nós | continuamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuaram |
Mesmo depois do aviso, ele continuou fumando.
Even after the warning, he kept smoking.
Pretérito imperfeito
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continuava |
| tu | continuavas |
| você / ele / ela | continuava |
| nós | continuávamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuavam |
The imperfect of continuar is extremely common because "kept doing / was still doing" is itself an ongoing-past idea: Eu continuava esperando (I kept waiting).
Futuro do presente
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continuarei |
| tu | continuarás |
| você / ele / ela | continuará |
| nós | continuaremos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuarão |
Spoken Brazilian prefers vou continuar: Vou continuar tentando (I'll keep trying).
Futuro do pretérito (conditional)
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continuaria |
| tu | continuarias |
| você / ele / ela | continuaria |
| nós | continuaríamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuariam |
Subjunctive
Presente do subjuntivo
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continue |
| tu | continues |
| você / ele / ela | continue |
| nós | continuemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuem |
Espero que vocês continuem se falando.
I hope you two keep talking to each other.
Imperfeito do subjuntivo
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continuasse |
| tu | continuasses |
| você / ele / ela | continuasse |
| nós | continuássemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuassem |
Seria estranho se ele continuasse aqui depois de tudo.
It would be weird if he were still here after everything.
Futuro do subjuntivo
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | continuar |
| tu | continuares |
| você / ele / ela | continuar |
| nós | continuarmos |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuarem |
Enquanto a febre continuar, fica em casa.
As long as the fever continues, stay home.
Imperative
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tu | continua | não continues |
| você | continue | não continue |
| nós | continuemos | não continuemos |
| vocês | continuem | não continuem |
A common encouragement is Continua assim! (Keep it up!) using the spoken tu form even with você.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| Infinitivo pessoal — eu | continuar |
| Infinitivo pessoal — tu | continuares |
| Infinitivo pessoal — você/ele/ela | continuar |
| Infinitivo pessoal — nós | continuarmos |
| Infinitivo pessoal — vocês/eles/elas | continuarem |
| Gerúndio | continuando |
| Particípio | continuado |
continuar vs. ainda (still): the overlap
Brazilians often double up continuar with ainda ("still") for emphasis, and the two can also replace each other. Ele continua doente and Ele ainda está doente both mean "he's still sick." You can even combine them — Ele ainda continua doente — for extra insistence. The pairing with parar de is the natural antonym: parar de fumar (stop smoking) is the opposite of continuar fumando (keep smoking).
Source-language note for English speakers
English "continue" can be followed by either the gerund or the infinitive ("continue working" / "continue to work") with no real difference, so English speakers feel at home with the two Portuguese patterns. The genuinely new idea is the copular use: there is no English verb "to continue sick." English forces "still be sick," splitting the meaning across an adverb and the copula. Portuguese packs it into continuar alone, and the adjective agrees in number and gender (continua cansada, continuam cansados). Internalize that continuar can directly govern an adjective and you've captured the one feature with no English equivalent.
Common Mistakes
❌ Continuo de estudar todo dia.
Incorrect — it's continuar A + infinitive (or continuar + gerund), never continuar DE.
✅ Continuo a estudar todo dia. / Continuo estudando todo dia.
I keep studying every day.
❌ Ele continua ser doente.
Incorrect — for a state, continuar takes the adjective directly, no 'ser'.
✅ Ele continua doente.
He's still sick.
❌ Eu continuo a chover lá fora. (meaning 'it's still raining')
Incorrect subject — for weather use the bare third person: continua chovendo.
✅ Continua chovendo lá fora.
It's still raining outside.
❌ A gente continuam morando aqui.
Incorrect — 'a gente' takes a third-person singular verb: continua.
✅ A gente continua morando aqui.
We're still living here.
❌ Espero que ele continua tentando.
Incorrect — after 'espero que' you need the subjunctive: continue.
✅ Espero que ele continue tentando.
I hope he keeps trying.
Key Takeaways
- continuar is a fully regular -ar verb — no accent or vowel shift on the -u- stem.
- continuar + gerúndio (continuo estudando) is the everyday Brazilian default; continuar a + infinitivo (continuo a estudar) is more formal in BR and standard in PT-PT. Both are correct.
- As a copula, continuar
- adjective means "to still be" (continua doente) — agreement applies, and there is no English one-word equivalent.
- The natural antonym is parar de
- infinitive.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- First Conjugation: -ar VerbsA1 — The largest and most regular Brazilian Portuguese verb class — endings across the main tenses, high-frequency verbs, and the gostar de trap.
- Começar a / Parar de / Continuar + InfinitivoA2 — Phase-marking verbs in Brazilian Portuguese — começar a, parar de, continuar, voltar a, deixar de — and the prepositions each one takes.
- Estar + Gerúndio: The ProgressiveA1 — How Brazilian Portuguese builds the present progressive with estar plus the gerund — and why estar a comer marks you as Portuguese.
- PararA1 — How to conjugate and use parar (to stop) in Brazilian Portuguese — a fully regular -ar verb — with the all-important constructions parar de + infinitive (stop doing) vs. parar para + infinitive (stop in order to do), and the everyday command Para!
- FicarA1 — Full conjugation and usage reference for 'ficar' (to stay / to become / to be located) — a high-frequency -ar verb with a c→qu spelling change and remarkable polysemy.