Today I was writing an article for my organization's newsletter when I came upon key messaging that had the phrase "continuous communication". It seemed awkward. I felt that the word to be used should have been "continual", not "continuous". I performed a Google search and found the following explanation, which then allowed me to choose the right word.
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Taken from:
Daily Writing Tips
Both adjectives describe duration.
Continuous indicates duration without interruption.
For Example:
The continuous humming of the fluorescent lights gave him a headache.
Continual indicates duration that continues over a long period of time, but with intervals of interruption.
For Example:
The continual street repair disrupted traffic for nearly two years.
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Based on these definitions and examples, I was able to determine that the communication would involve intervals of interruption over the course of a year; people do go home. As a result, the right choice was to write "continual communication".
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