続ける|つづける
- 1To continue an action without stopping over a stretch of time.Ex. 1
- 2To keep up or persist in an effort until an end point.Ex. 2
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Neutral in register and common in both speech and writing, from everyday talk to encouragement and narration. It often appears with time expressions such as ずっと, 〜から or 最後まで, which mark how long the action lasts. Whereas 始める marks the start of an action, 続ける focuses on its continuation.
Learners sometimes attach 続ける to the dictionary form (×走る続ける); it must follow the ます-stem (走り続ける).
Note that 続ける sounds odd with one-time instantaneous verbs like 死ぬ or 着く unless the action is repeated.
- ているN5「ている」 attaches to the て-form and can express an ongoing action, a resulting state, or a habit, simply stating the state, whereas 「続ける」 attaches to the ます-stem and highlights duration and persistence. They overlap in the ongoing and habitual senses and can be combined, as in 「走り続けている」.
- っぱなしN3「っぱなし」 also attaches to the ます-stem; when expressing continuation it is mostly colloquial and cannot express deliberate persistence. It has another use, doing something and then leaving it as it is without putting it away or dealing with it, which usually carries reproach and is a meaning 「続ける」 lacks.
- つつあるN2「つつある」 attaches only to change verbs and shows a change gradually progressing but not yet complete, mostly in writing, while 「続ける」 focuses on an action or state continuing without interruption, often implying persistence. Both attach to the ます-stem, but they generally cannot be swapped.
- ばかりだN2「ばかりだ」 attaches to the dictionary form of change verbs to mean "more and more…," often with a sense of worry, while 「続ける」 attaches to the ます-stem and expresses that an action continues or is persisted in. 「増え続ける」 and 「増えるばかりだ」 are close in meaning, but the latter sounds more resigned.
- 始めるN4「始める」 marks the start of a deliberate action or the onset of a natural phenomenon or change of state, focusing only on the starting point, whereas 「続ける」 focuses on the continuation after the start. Both attach to the ます-stem, but their meanings differ and they cannot be swapped.
Unlike ている, which simply marks an ongoing action or state, 続ける stresses persistence over time; unlike っぱなし, which describes a state or action that stays unchanged, whether something left as is (開けっぱなし) or an action that goes on the whole time (立ちっぱなし), often with a complaining tone, 続ける highlights keeping an action going. つつある describes a gradual change in progress, ばかりだ a one-way, usually negative trend, and 始める is the opposite, marking the start of an action.
