Let’s assume that nurses have transferred a patient after surgery to the recovery room a couple of hours ago. The patient has come to already and during this period of time has kept moaning. His/her surgeon comes to check the patient up and asks the head nurse about his/her situation. The nurse wants to describe what has happened to the patient after the recovery. Which one of the choices sounds more correct to be said by the nurse:
- The patient is ………………. restless.
a. continuously [The correct choice in my view]
b. continuallyWhat about the popular sentence below:
- Life is ……………. changing.
a. continuously [The correct choice in my view]
b. continuallyTo me, “continuous” means “without stopping” and “continual” means “very frequent“.
Note: I know there are many possible choices. I just need to know about these two cases.
Answer
From the web:
Continual means repeated but with breaks in between; chronic.
Example: The continual problem of our car’s not starting forced us to
sell it.Continuous means without interruption in an unbroken stream of time or
space.Example: The continuous dripping of the faucet drove me crazy.
Continuous = Constant
Continual = Repeated
However, I think for the first example you should say The patient is quite restless as being restless is already continual state, with varying degrees of severity (Unless they are restless for 1/2 hour, then sleep 1/2 hour, repeat). I think the severity of the restlessness would be more important here.
For the second example I would also suggest an alternate Life is constantly changing which, although still means continuously, I think is more idiomatic.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : A-friend , Answer Author : Smock