mantenersevsmanténgaseTell them apart

Which to use

“mantenerse” and “manténgase” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,128
“mantenerse” frequency rank
#42,021
“manténgase” frequency rank
47149
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mantenerse manténgase
Definition Sostenerse uno mismo, sea en un mismo nivel o lugar durante el transcurso del tiempo, o bien económicamente. Segunda persona del singular (usted) del imperativo afirmativo de mantenerse (con el pronombre «se» enclítico).

Where the eye mixes mantenerse and manténgase

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. mantenerse (CVCCVCVCCV) and manténgase (CVCCVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
mantenerse
10 ch
manténgase

Visual trap between mantenerse and manténgase

A purely visual mix-up. mantenerse ([mãn̪t̪eˈneɾse]) and manténgase ([mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgase]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mantenerse is recorded at frequency rank #5,128, classified as averb, pronounced [mãn̪t̪eˈneɾse]. manténgase is at rank #42,021, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgase].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 47149, this pair ranks #121,655 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mantenerse vs manténgase

Shared letters: aemnst. Private to "mantenerse": r. Private to "manténgase": gé.

"mantenerse" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV  ·  "manténgase" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mantenerse ← amntenerse · manetnerse · manntenerse · manteenrse · mantenerce · manteneres · mantenerrse · mantenersse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mantenerse" for "manténgase" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mãn̪t̪eˈneɾse] versus [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgase]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mantenerse" vs "manténgase" - which ranks higher?
"mantenerse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,128 in our Spanish list, against #42,021 for "manténgase". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "mantenerse" and "manténgase" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mantenerse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "manténgase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #121,655 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mantenerse" and "manténgase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manténganse vs manténgase". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #121,655 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list