Breakdown of A continuación, lee los estatutos.
Questions & Answers about A continuación, lee los estatutos.
A continuación is a fixed expression meaning next, then, or below / in what follows, depending on context.
In instructions, it often introduces the next step:
- A continuación, lee los estatutos. = Next, read the bylaws.
It is very common in formal or instructional Spanish, especially in textbooks, forms, websites, and official documents.
It is three separate words:
- a = a preposition
- continuación = a noun
Together, they form the fixed expression a continuación.
You should learn it as a chunk, because its meaning is not always obvious if you translate each word separately.
The comma is used because A continuación works as an introductory expression at the start of the sentence.
So:
- A continuación, lee los estatutos.
This is similar to English punctuation in phrases like:
- Next, read the bylaws.
- After that, continue to the next section.
You may sometimes see short introductory expressions without a comma in less careful writing, but here the comma is standard and natural.