Which to use
“mantenga” and “mantenía” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,592
- “mantenga” frequency rank
- #10,023
- “mantenía” frequency rank
- 17615
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mantenga | mantenía |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de mantener o de mantenerse. | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mantener o de mantenerse. |
Where the eye mixes mantenga and mantenía
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. mantenga (CVCCVCCV) and mantenía (CVCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: mantenga vs mantenía
A purely visual mix-up. mantenga ([mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋga]) and mantenía ([mãn̪t̪eˈnia]) 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 - g in “mantenga” becomes í in “mantenía”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17615, 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]. mantenía is at rank #10,023, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪t̪eˈnia].
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 17615, this pair ranks #271,407 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mantenga vs mantenía
Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "mantenga": g. Private to "mantenía": í.
"mantenga" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "mantenía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mantenga ← amntenga · manetnga · manntenga · mantegna · mantenag · mantengga · mantennga · mantnega
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mantenga" and "mantenía" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mantenga" or "mantenía" show up more?
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 "mantenía" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,407 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mantenga" and "mantenía" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantengas vs mantenía". 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 #271,407 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.