manténgansevsmanténgaseTell them apart

Which to use

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

#49,782
“manténganse” frequency rank
#42,021
“manténgase” frequency rank
91803
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature manténganse manténgase
Definition Segunda persona del plural (ustedes) del imperativo afirmativo de mantenerse (con el pronombre «se» enclítico). Segunda persona del singular (usted) del imperativo afirmativo de mantenerse (con el pronombre «se» enclítico).

Where the eye mixes manténganse and manténgase

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. manténganse runs 11 letters (CVCCVCCVCCV) against manténgase's 10 (CVCCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
manténganse
10 ch
manténgase

Visual trap between manténganse and manténgase

A purely visual mix-up. manténganse ([mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgãnse]) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

manténganse is recorded at frequency rank #49,782, classified as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgãnse]. 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 91803, this pair ranks #1,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of manténganse vs manténgase

Shared letters: aegmnsté. Private to "manténganse": -. Private to "manténgase": -.

"manténganse" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV  ·  "manténgase" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "manténganse" and "manténgase" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgãnse] versus [mãn̪ˈt̪ẽŋgase]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "manténganse" or "manténgase" show up more?
"manténgase" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,021 in our Spanish list, against #49,782 for "manténganse". 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 "manténganse" and "manténgase" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "manténganse" 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 #1,783 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "manténganse" and "manténgase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manténganse vs mantengas". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,783 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