mantengavsmantengoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#7,592
“mantenga” frequency rank
#16,150
“mantengo” frequency rank
23742
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mantenga mantengo
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de mantener o de mantenerse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de mantener.

Where the eye mixes mantenga and mantengo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. mantenga and mantengo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
mantenga
8 ch
mantengo

Visual trap between mantenga and mantengo

A purely visual mix-up. mantenga ([mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋga]) and mantengo ([mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “mantenga” becomes o in “mantengo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23742, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mantenga is recorded at frequency rank #7,592, classified as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋga]. mantengo is at rank #16,150, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgo].

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 23742, this pair ranks #244,354 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mantenga vs mantengo

Shared letters: aegmnt. Private to "mantenga": -. Private to "mantengo": o.

"mantenga" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "mantengo" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mantengaamntenga · manetnga · manntenga · mantegna · mantenag · mantengga · mantennga · mantnega
  • mantengoamntengo · manetngo · manntengo · mantegno · mantenggo · mantenngo · mantenog · mantnego

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "mantenga" for "mantengo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋga] versus [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mantenga" vs "mantengo" - which ranks higher?
"mantenga" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,592 in our Spanish list, against #16,150 for "mantengo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mantenga" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mantengo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #244,354 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mantenga" and "mantengo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantengas vs mantengo". 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 #244,354 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