"Continue" can be followed by either a gerund or an infinitive, but there is a slight difference between the two. When you're describing an activity, you can use either construction. For example, 'continue fighting' or 'continue to fight'. When you're describing circumstances, you can only use the infinitive. For example, 'This continued to be source of difficulties for many years.' My advice? Always use infinitive after 'continue'. It's far more likely to be right. And seeing that you're keen to improve your grammar and vocabulary, here are a few bonus tips based on your post: - The adverb 'Lately' refers to recent weeks or months, so it takes the present perfect. So you should have written "Lately, I've been trying to.." - Unlike in Spanish, we can't omit subjects, so you can't say '..why is written'. You have to say '...why it is written'. - In English, we commit crimes ( like murder!) We don't 'commit mistakes'. We simply 'make mistakes'. I hope that helps.