Keeping it going: seguir and continuar
When you want to express that an action is still happening or that someone "keeps doing" something, you can use the verbs seguir (to follow / to continue) or continuar (to continue).
To build this structure, simply conjugate seguir or continuar, and add the gerund (the -ando or -iendo form) of the main action verb.
| The marathon started an hour ago and they're still running. | El maratón empezó hace una hora y siguen corriendo. |
| Even though I have no strength, I keep maintaining the pace. | Aunque no tengo fuerzas, sigo manteniendo el ritmo. |
Note that seguir has a stem change (e to i) in the present tense for most forms (like sigo, sigues, and siguen), but keeps its original e for nosotros.
| We keep improving our endurance and our pace. | Seguimos mejorando nuestra resistencia y nuestro ritmo. |
Seguir vs. Continuar
Both seguir and continuar mean the exact same thing when combined with a gerund, though seguir is a bit more common in everyday spoken Spanish. You can use either one to talk about keeping up your marathon training, pushing through fatigue, or maintaining your pace!
| For the marathon, you have to keep running. | Para el maratón, tienes que seguir corriendo. |
| The athletes have to continue stretching their muscles. | Los atletas tienen que continuar estirando sus músculos. |
| After the injury, the athlete continues running. | Después de la lesión, el atleta continúa corriendo. |
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