The preterite of continuar is used to express that you continued an action for a specific period in the past. For example, you might say “I continued working until midnight,” indicating a defined timeframe when the continuation occurred.

This is a regular -ar verb that follows the standard preterite conjugation pattern. Note that when adding the preterite endings, you must change the ‘u’ to ‘ú’ in some forms to maintain proper pronunciation.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Continuar (to continue) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The Preterite of continuar indicates specific instances of continuing or proceeding with an action.

To continue: Used for specific instances of proceeding with an action, for example, Continuó su trabajo después del almuerzo (He/she continued their work after lunch).

To proceed: Indicates moving forward with something, for example, Continuamos con la reunión a pesar de las interrupciones (We proceeded with the meeting despite the interruptions).

Examples

Examples of Continuar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Continué trabajando hasta tarde. (I continued working until late.)

El profesor continuó con la lección. (The teacher continued with the lesson.)

¿Por qué continuaste sin mí? (Why did you continue without me?)

Continuamos la reunión después del almuerzo. (We continued the meeting after lunch.)

Los estudiantes continuaron estudiando para el examen. (The students continued studying for the exam.)

La lluvia continuó toda la noche. (The rain continued all night.)

Continué mi camino a pesar del mal tiempo. (I continued my way despite the bad weather.)

¿Continuaste el proyecto sin ayuda? (Did you continue the project without help?)

La fiesta continuó hasta el amanecer. (The party continued until dawn.)

Continuamos la tradición familiar. (We continued the family tradition.)

Los problemas continuaron aumentando. (The problems continued increasing.)

Ella continuó su educación en el extranjero. (She continued her education abroad.)

Continué leyendo hasta terminar el libro. (I continued reading until I finished the book.)

La música continuó sonando toda la noche. (The music continued playing all night.)

Continuamos adelante a pesar de las dificultades. (We continued forward despite the difficulties.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Continuar (to continue) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.