계속하다 (gyesokada) Conjugation: Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 계속하다 (gyesokada)
• Meaning: to continue
• Level: A2
• Stem: 계속하
• Class: 하다 type
• Objects: transitive
• Honorific polite: 계속하세요

What Does 계속하다 Mean?

계속하다 means to continue an action: 공부를 계속하다. It is transitive and takes 을/를. The adverb 계속 on its own means 'continuously' (계속 비가 와요). 계속하세요 is a natural way to say 'go ahead'. For things that continue by themselves, use 계속되다.

Senses:

• to continue. Used for continuing an action: 공부를 계속하다.

How Do You Pronounce 계속하다?

The ㄱ of 계속 merges with the ㅎ of 하 into ㅋ, so 계속해요 is [계소캐요]. The past and formal forms follow the same merger.

Read as gyesokada. Pronunciation of each form:

• 계속해요 [계소캐요]
• 계속했어요 [계소캐써요]
• 계속할 거예요 [계소칼꺼예요]
• 계속하겠어요 [계소카게써요]
• 계속합니다 [계소캄니다]
• 계속했습니다 [계소캗씀니다]
• 계속할 것입니다 [계소칼꺼심니다]
• 계속해 [계소캐]
• 계속했어 [계소캐써]
• 계속할 거야 [계소칼꺼야]
• 계속하고 싶어요 [계소카고 시퍼요]
• 계속하세요 [계소카세요]
• 계속해서 [계소캐서]
• 계속하면 [계소카면]
• 계속하는 [계소카는]
• 계속한 [계소칸]
• 계속할 [계소칼]
• 계속하지 않아요 [계소카지 아나요]

How Do You Use 계속하다 in a Sentence?

한국어 공부를 is the object. (계속해요)

A past stretch: 어제도 (yesterday too) stresses repetition, with 일을 as the object and 계속했어요 as the past. (계속했어요)

계속하세요 is the honorific polite form, a polite way to tell someone to go on. (계속하세요)

How Does Gyesokada Conjugation Work?

Is 계속하다 Regular or Irregular?

계속하다 follows the 하다 pattern: 하 plus 여 becomes 해, so 계속해요 and 계속했어요. Negatives put 안 after the noun: 계속 안 해요.

Common Mistake with 계속하다

Wrong: ✗ 공부가 계속해요

Correct: ✓ 공부를 계속해요

Why: 계속하다 is transitive and takes 을/를; the intransitive version is 계속되다.

공부가 계속해요 makes the study the subject, but 계속하다 needs a person who continues something. Say 공부를 계속해요; for something that carries on by itself the verb is 계속되다.

계속하다 Versus 그만두다

Resuming a Project after a Break

Two coworkers are returning to a report they started earlier. They use a present question, a wish, and a future plan to decide what happens next.

Mina

Jun

Mina

The first line names the activity as 보고서 작업을, “work on the report.” The later lines leave it out because both coworkers know what is continuing. 계속할 거예요 schedules the continuation for later; it does not say that they are working at this exact moment.

계속하다, 계속되다, or Just 계속?

These three shapes let you describe the same situation from different angles. With 계속하다, someone carries on an activity: 일을 계속하다, “continue the work.” With 계속되다, the event itself continues. The adverb 계속 can sit with another verb and means “continuously” or “keep doing.”

계속 비가 와요 describes rain that keeps falling. There is no person choosing to continue the rain, so the adverb plus the weather verb fits naturally. 공부를 계속하다, by contrast, presents studying as an activity someone carries on. The choice is about sentence structure as well as meaning.

A useful check is to ask what the subject is doing. A person can continue a discussion or a project. A discussion itself can continue, but it is not the person doing the continuing. That is why changing the object marker to a subject marker also requires a different verb pattern.

Common Combinations and Their Implications

These are ordinary combinations rather than colorful idioms. 계속하다 does not promise that an activity happens every day or without any pause. After a lunch break, continuing the same discussion is still continuing. If you need to emphasize an unbroken stretch, describe the duration or the absence of a break too.

계속해서 can connect one step to the next in an explanation. At an event, it can introduce what follows. In that use, the English translation may be “next” or “continuing on,” rather than the awkward literal “by continuing.”

Where Will You Hear 계속하다?

During a presentation, 계속하세요 lets a speaker go on after an interruption. It works when someone pauses to check whether they should continue. Tone matters: a calm invitation sounds supportive, while the same words said impatiently can sound like an instruction to hurry along.

In a lesson or at work, continuing a course, task, or conversation often uses 계속하다 with a named activity. Weather reports and everyday complaints also use 계속 very often, but there it may be an adverb. Hearing 계속 does not mean the sentence contains the verb 계속하다.

The Spelling Stays 하 Even When the Sound Changes

The aspiration described above changes the sound across 속 and 하, while the spelling keeps both parts. The same boundary appears in 계속하면 and 계속하는. Conjugate the written 하다 ending; do not rebuild the spelling from the sound you hear.

The negative 계속 안 해요 can be unclear without context: it might deny continuing a particular task, while the adverb 계속 can also modify a negative action. To express quitting clearly, use 그만두다. To express a temporary stop, 멈추다 may fit better.

The office vocabulary lesson teaches words for ongoing tasks. For the written ending, see 하다 to 해요.

Mini Drill: Keep the Activity Going

1. Choose 공부를 or 공부가 before 계속해요.
2. Give the polite past of 계속하다.
3. Say “I want to continue” with the wish form.
4. Which verb describes an event continuing by itself?

Quick Self-Test

1. Is 계속 always a verb?
2. Does continuing require that there was no break at all?
3. What does 계속하세요 invite a speaker to do?

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Say "Go Ahead" or "Please Go On"?

Say 계속하세요, the honorific polite form. It invites someone to keep talking or keep going.

What Does the Adverb 계속 Mean?

It means continuously or keep (doing), as in 계속 비가 와요 (it keeps raining).

Why Is 공부가 계속해요 Wrong?

계속하다 is transitive, so what you continue takes 을/를: 공부를 계속해요. For something that continues by itself, use 계속되다.

Why Is the Polite Present Read [계소캐요]?

The final ㄱ of 속 and the ㅎ of 해 merge into the aspirated ㅋ.

Which Words Are Related to 계속하다?

• 시작하다
• 끝나다
• 그만두다
• 멈추다
• Dictionary

What Should You Learn Next?

Look at 시작하다, 끝나다 and 그만두다. Test any form in the Korean verb conjugator.