Continue and Continue on

Continue and Continue on Continue and Continue on Continue and Continue on By Maeve Maddox Ralph Mielcarek writes: Please explain: Is the phrase CONTINUE ON - giving advice or instruction, considered redundant, or will CONTINUE suffice? The phrase continue on generally triggers a blackboard moment for me. I accept the use of the on in a statement such as Talks continue on the topic of global warming but I see no use for on for a statement such as The children may continue on with their search for leaves. The entry for continue on in Merriam-Websters Dictionary of English Usage acknowledges ongoing objections to the phrase: A half dozen or more commentators from Ayres 1881 to Chambers 1985 have dismissed continue on as a redundancy, with the on considered (usually) superfluous. Ayres himself found the on to be euphonious in some expressions, but superfluous in others. Later commentators seem to have missed the euphony. One, however, Safire 1984, defends the expression when applied to travel. The entry concludes: If you are one of the few who use continue on, you may keep right on using it. And if you do not use it, of course, there is no reason to begin. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Punctuating â€Å"So† at the Beginning of a SentenceHyper and HypoWords Often Misspelled Because of Double Letters