Continuar a + Infinitive (Still Doing) | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

When an action begun in the past is still going on — and you want to foreground that continuity — European Portuguese reaches for continuar a + infinitive. The construction translates the English "still doing," "keep on doing," or "continue to do," and it is one of the most productive periphrases in the language. Continuo a estudar means "I'm still studying," with the implication that I started before now and have not stopped. This page lays out the full paradigm, contrasts it with voltar a and passar a (two sister constructions that share the a + infinitive frame), and shows how to keep it out of the Brazilian continuar + gerund pattern.

The three slots

Like every member of the periphrastic family, continuar a + infinitive has a fixed architecture.

Slot	What fills it	What changes
auxiliary	continuar, in some tense	conjugates for person, number, tense
linker	a (plain preposition)	never changes
main verb	bare infinitive	never changes form

The linker is the plain preposition a — never à. Everything after it stays in infinitive form.

Continuo a pensar no que me disseste ontem.

I'm still thinking about what you told me yesterday.

Apesar de tudo, continuamos a acreditar que vai correr bem.

In spite of everything, we still believe it'll turn out well.

The meaning: persistence, not repetition

Continuar a + inf says the action has been in progress and has not stopped. It is a continuative aspect marker. The crucial thing is that the action is the same single, unbroken activity — not a repeated one.

Continuo a trabalhar na tese. — I'm still working on the thesis (started a while ago, still at it).
Volto a trabalhar na tese. — I'm working on the thesis again (I'd stopped; now I've resumed).
Ando a trabalhar na tese. — I've been working on the thesis lately (over recent weeks, with some pattern of effort).

Keep the three apart. Continuar a foregrounds unbroken continuation; voltar a foregrounds resumption after a pause; andar a foregrounds repeated activity spread over a recent stretch of time.

Paradigm across the key tenses

The auxiliary continuar is a perfectly regular -ar verb, so every tense drops into the slot cleanly. The main verb after a never changes.

Present — "I am still doing"

Subject	continuar (present)	Example with falar
eu	continuo	continuo a falar
tu	continuas	continuas a falar
ele / ela / você	continua	continua a falar
nós	continuamos	continuamos a falar
eles / elas / vocês	continuam	continuam a falar

Continuas a morar em Lisboa ou já mudaste para o Porto?

Are you still living in Lisbon or have you moved to Porto?

Depois de tantos anos, ele continua a cortar o cabelo no mesmo barbeiro.

After all these years, he still gets his hair cut at the same barber's.

Imperfect — "was still doing"

This is the natural frame for scene-setting past descriptions: the ongoing state into which some event breaks.

Subject	continuar (imperfect)	Example with estudar
eu	continuava	continuava a estudar
tu	continuavas	continuavas a estudar
ele / ela / você	continuava	continuava a estudar
nós	continuávamos	continuávamos a estudar
eles / elas / vocês	continuavam	continuavam a estudar

Quando saí do cinema, continuava a chover imenso.

When I came out of the cinema, it was still raining a lot.

Eles continuavam a discutir quando desliguei o telefone.

They were still arguing when I hung up the phone.

Preterite — "kept on doing (and then stopped / and did so)"

The preterite of continuar frames the continuation as a bounded stretch — something that went on for a while and is now closed off. In English this often maps onto "kept on doing" or simply "continued to do."

Subject	continuar (preterite)	Example with trabalhar
eu	continuei	continuei a trabalhar
tu	continuaste	continuaste a trabalhar
ele / ela / você	continuou	continuou a trabalhar
nós	continuámos	continuámos a trabalhar
eles / elas / vocês	continuaram	continuaram a trabalhar

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The nós preterite carries a written accent: continuámos, not continuamos. This is the only way EP distinguishes the preterite (continuámos a trabalhar = "we kept on working") from the present (continuamos a trabalhar = "we are still working"). Always write the accent.

Mesmo depois do aviso, continuei a fumar durante mais dois anos.

Even after the warning, I kept on smoking for two more years.

Ela não quis ouvir e continuou a falar até ao fim.

She didn't want to listen and went on talking until the end.

Imperfect vs preterite: the subtle contrast

Because continuar a + inf is compatible with both past tenses, learners have to make the same choice here that they would for any verb in the past.

Imperfect (continuava a...) — the continuation is a backdrop, still going at the time under discussion. No endpoint in view.
Preterite (continuei a...) — the continuation happened and is now closed. There is usually a stated or implied endpoint.

Continuávamos a trabalhar quando começou o alarme.

We were still working when the alarm went off. (imperfect — ongoing backdrop)

Continuámos a trabalhar até às onze da noite.

We kept on working until eleven at night. (preterite — bounded stretch)

Future and conditional

Se não chover, continuaremos a treinar lá fora.

If it doesn't rain, we'll go on training outside. (synthetic future)

Vou continuar a tentar até conseguir.

I'm going to keep trying until I get it. (colloquial future)

Num mundo ideal, continuaríamos a viver à beira-mar.

In an ideal world, we'd go on living by the sea.

Subjunctive and compound tenses

Espero que continues a escrever-me todas as semanas.

I hope you keep on writing to me every week.

Tem continuado a chover há três dias.

It's been continuing to rain for three days now.

Continuar a + inf vs continuar + gerund — the Brazilian split

Brazilian Portuguese commonly uses continuar + gerund — continuo estudando, "I'm still studying." European Portuguese does not. In Portugal this pattern sounds foreign or Brazilian; the native pattern is continuar a + infinitive.

Meaning	European Portuguese	Brazilian Portuguese
I'm still studying.	Continuo a estudar.	Continuo estudando.
She was still crying.	Continuava a chorar.	Continuava chorando.
They kept on laughing.	Continuaram a rir.	Continuaram rindo.

If you have studied with Brazilian materials, this swap takes active attention. The structural change is tiny — a preposition plus an infinitive instead of a gerund form — but socially it is decisive. Continuo estudando in Lisbon marks you immediately as Brazilian or foreign.

Continuar a + inf vs voltar a + inf — still vs again

Voltar a + inf is the other obvious candidate, and English sometimes pushes learners toward it through the ambiguous word "again." The core distinction:

Continuar a — the action never stopped. Same single thread of activity, ongoing.
Voltar a — the action had stopped at some point and has now resumed. There is a gap in the middle.

Continuo a fazer exercício todas as manhãs.

I'm still exercising every morning. (I never stopped)

Voltei a fazer exercício este mês.

I've started exercising again this month. (I had stopped, now I've resumed)

Continuei a ler o livro no avião.

I kept on reading the book on the plane. (no break)

Voltei a ler o livro no avião.

I started reading the book again on the plane. (I had set it aside)

If the English sentence can take "still" naturally, reach for continuar a. If it really means "once more, after a pause," reach for voltar a.

Continuar a + inf vs passar a + inf — continue vs switch to

Passar a + inf is a change-of-state inchoative: from now on, this is how things will be. It marks the adoption of a new habit or state, not the prolongation of an old one.

Continuar a — same action as before, still going.
Passar a — the action is new; from this point forward, this is what I do.

Continuo a trabalhar em casa três dias por semana.

I'm still working from home three days a week. (unchanged routine)

Passei a trabalhar em casa três dias por semana.

I've switched to working from home three days a week. (new routine, adopted at some point)

Depois do susto, passei a usar sempre o cinto atrás.

After the scare, I started always wearing the seatbelt in the back. (adopted the habit)

Passar a is the standard way in EP to say "from now on, I do X" as a settled new practice. English often uses "start" for this meaning, but be careful: "start doing" in the sense of switching habits is passar a, while "start doing" in the sense of the initial beginning of an action is começar a (see começar a + infinitive).

Negation

Não goes before the conjugated auxiliary, never inside the periphrastic unit.

Não continues a falar comigo nesse tom.

Don't keep talking to me in that tone.

Ela já não continua a trabalhar naquela empresa.

She doesn't still work at that company. / She no longer works at that company.

The combination já não continua a + inf is very common for "no longer does" — the já não amplifies the negation and makes the break with the past state explicit.

Object pronouns

By default the clitic pronoun attaches to the infinitive with a hyphen, following EP clitic-placement rules.

Continuo a escrever-lhe todas as semanas.

I'm still writing to him every week.

Eles continuam a convidar-nos para o jantar de Natal.

They still invite us to the Christmas dinner.

With a proclisis trigger (não, que, nunca, já, etc.), the pronoun jumps in front of continuar.

Não me continues a chamar isso.

Don't keep calling me that.

Sei que nos continuam a vigiar.

I know they're still watching us.

Common mistakes

❌ Continuo estudando português.

Incorrect in EP — this is the Brazilian pattern. EP uses continuar a + infinitive.

✅ Continuo a estudar português.

I'm still studying Portuguese.

If you picked this up from a Brazilian telenovela, reset it now. In Portugal continuar a + inf is the only natural option.

❌ Continuo a estudando português.

Incorrect — mixes the two patterns. After a, use the infinitive, never a gerund.

✅ Continuo a estudar português.

I'm still studying Portuguese.

❌ Continuamos a trabalhar até às onze ontem à noite.

Spelling error — the nós preterite needs the acute: continuámos. Without it the sentence reads as present ('we are still working').

✅ Continuámos a trabalhar até às onze ontem à noite.

We kept on working until eleven last night.

❌ Voltei a pensar nele todos os dias desde que nos conhecemos.

Contradictory — 'desde que nos conhecemos' implies no interruption, so voltar a doesn't fit. Use continuar a.

✅ Continuo a pensar nele todos os dias desde que nos conhecemos.

I've been thinking about him every day since we met.

The trap here is the English "I've been thinking…" which looks like repetition but is really unbroken continuation. Reach for continuar a, not voltar a.

❌ Continuo a começar a estudar mais.

Semantically awkward — continuar (still) and começar (start) don't stack naturally. Pick one.

✅ Comecei a estudar mais.

I've started studying more.

✅ Continuo a estudar muito.

I'm still studying a lot.

Key takeaways

Form: conjugated continuar
- a (plain preposition) + bare infinitive.
Meaning: the action has not stopped — unbroken continuation, not resumption, not repetition.
Key contrast: EP uses continuar a + inf; Brazilian Portuguese uses continuar + gerund. Do not mix.
Spelling watch: the nós preterite is continuámos, with an acute accent, to distinguish it from the present continuamos.
Relatives: voltar a + inf = do again (after a pause); passar a + inf = switch to / adopt as new habit; começar a + inf = begin for the first time; continuar a + inf = keep going with something already underway.
Clitics: enclitic to the infinitive by default (continuo a escrever-lhe); proclitic to continuar with a trigger (não me continues a chamar isso).